Alpha Force 2: Destination Europe
by Inspector Brown
Summary: Sequel to Alpha Force. The team is back for another assignment. This time, they're splitting up to take on five new villains in five different cities. But little do they know what new threat is brewing back at home!
1. Reintroduction

Dateline: Friday, July 3, 1981, 12:01 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

A short two months after the defeat of Herr Cannon, Alpha Force's popularity has never been higher. Everything they did was newsworthy. Everyone swarmed around them like crazed bees. There was a generous stock Alpha Force comic books in every novelty shop throughout California, along with action figures, an animated series, even Alpha Flakes Cereal.

Yes, Alpha-mania had a hold on every citizen in Metroville. Well, not every citizen. With this newfound flood of fans, Ashley, Dash, José, Kimberly, and Violet haven't had a moment's peace. As the response to their daring deeds surged, the sandbagged supers began to enjoy their secret identity lives more and more. Today, they were enjoying lunch at a local outdoor bistro, out of costume, and out of the public eye.

"This is nice," Kim said to nobody in particular. "The five of us, eating lunch together, in public, not worrying about our jobs…"

"Our jobs?" Violet asked rhetorically. "Excuse me, but I'm the only one of us who has found gainful employment, although someone else came really close…" She eyeballed her brother in contempt.

"It wasn't my fault!" Dash objected, "I had a broken leg, so I couldn't work!"

"Guys, knock it off!" Kim interrupted. "I wasn't talking about that kind of job."

"Oh," Violet said flatly. Her face had turned as red as Ashley's hair. "Well, I still think that it isn't fair for me to be the only one supporting us."

"Will you chill out, Vi? I've got an interview with someone this afternoon. Pass the ketchup, please?"

"I appreciate that Dash, but maybe someone else could perhaps get a job as well?"

"Don't look at me!" said Ashley. "You can see why I can't work, and so can I. In fact, it's one of the few things I can see."

"I'm not going to take some dead-end job right away," Kim added, "that's why I'm going to college."

"I thought your lifelong dream was to have children," said José.

"Yeah, but I want something to fall back on in case Dash and I get divorced."

"Divorced?" Dash shouted in surprise. "Kim, we're not even married yet, and you're planning for our divorce? Don't you still love me?"

"Of course I do, shookums," she answered, to the uproar of laughter from her compatriots. "As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted," she continued, "if you really want this to happen…"

"You mean our wedding?"

"…No, I mean the wedding of the Queen of England. Of course I mean our wedding! If you really want it to happen, why haven't you set a date?"

Dash was struck mute. He drummed the table with his fingers. His fiancée's stare penetrated his soul like a villain's evil death ray. He was under such duress that he blacked out for about 10 seconds. When he came to, Kim was hugging him.

"Thank you, Dash! Thank you thank you thank you!"

"You're welcome, baby. Who loves you?" He had no idea what she was talking about, but he had a feeling that he wasn't going to like it.

"Oh, my gosh! I have so much I need to do! Violet, come with me!" And they departed with Rocket-esque haste.

"I'm sorry, you guys, what did I miss?"

José filled him in on the details. "You just promised Kim that you guys would get married on the fourth of July."

Dash laughed to mask his udder shock. "I gotta go!" he quickly spat out before he ran off as fast as you would expect him to.

Ashley sighed as Dash departed. "I love it when he panics like that. I think it's kinda cute."

"Oh, jeez, you love him, don't you?" José recoiled in terror.

"Am I that obvious?"

"Even when the man is getting married tomorrow? Don't you got no shame, woman?"

"I know it's wrong, but…(sigh)…it feels so right!"

"All right, listen, we can't let Dash or Kimberly find out about this!"  
"Right, right," Ashley agreed. "Should we tell Vi?"

"No, she can't keep a secret to save her life."

"Huh?"

"From her brother," José added quickly, "she can't keep anything from her brother, so, no, don't tell Violet. Speak of the devil, here she comes now."

Violet sat back down in the same spot she had been sitting in. "You guys should see it, Kim is kicking butt left and right and the bridal store just up the street…" Her voice trailed off when she noticed the other empty seat. "Where's Dash?"

"I think he went to go talk to Kim or something, I don't know." José offered.

"Did you guys notice anything odd about my brother when he set the date?" Violet asked.

Ashley explained what happened to Dash.

"Yeah, I figured as much. Oh, well, no matter."

"I just hope the press doesn't find out about this."

Dash was expecting the love of his life to run to the nearest bridal boutique, and sure enough, there she was.

"Kim, honey, listen…" and he told her about his little panic attack.

The young lady held her head in disappointment. "So, you didn't really mean what you said?"

"No, I'm saying that at the time, I had no idea what I was saying, but now that I know what I said, I guess I realized that's what I wanted to say even though I don't remember saying it. Wait." Dash shifted his eyes skyward as if thinking hard. "Yeah, yeah, that's it."

"Are you saying you do want to get married on Saturday?"

Dash opened his mouth to speak, but said nothing. After a while, he said, "Yes."

"Great! Oh, no wait, you promised me you were going to do two things before we got married…"

"I remember what they are, and I will do them. Don't worry."

"You'll get a real job and hock that stupid gun of yours?"

"Yes."

"By tomorrow?"

"Honey, it's me."

"All right, dear. Good luck!"

Dash kissed his bride-to-be goodbye and sped away.

(A/N: Before I go further, let me explain why I scrapped The Incredibles 3-G. The truth is, it wasn't going the way I expected it to. That's what I get for not prewriting! But this story is prewritten, and I am going to complete it, someday. I promise I won't delete this story. Chapter 2 is under way, so stay tuned!)


	2. Dash gets a job finally!

Dateline: Friday, July 3, 1981, 3:22 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

Dash sprinted through the streets of his hometown, overflowing with purpose. He had always loved to run, even before he discovered his powers. But this time was different; he was running so that nobody would see him. Sure, when he sped past the paparazzi, they knew it was he. But by the time they realized that Rocket was two inches from their nose, he was long gone. And he loved it!

But he had a problem: if he ever slowed down, he'd get caught for sure, and he would have to slow to a normal pace eventually. After running up and down Main Street about thirty times, he hatched a plan. He ran near the hotel he was going to and dashed behind the building into the alleyway. Then he found some bushes to hide behind and waited. Soon, a swarm of reporters, photographers, and screaming teen girls came running after the handsome young hero. When they saw nothing, they departed with their heads hung in shame, just like he wanted.

After they were all gone, he emerged from his hiding spot. He brushed the branches and leaves out of his hair, then strolled inside the front door like he had an appointment there. As a matter of fact, he did.

"Hi," Dash said to the clerk at the counter. "Is the manager here?"

"Yes, just one minute…Mr. Baxter! Somebody here to see you!"

When Mr. Baxter came out, Dash noticed that he was tall and slender, about the same height as he was. Seeing the man in a business suit made Dash realize that his causal attire wasn't exactly appropriate.

"You must be Mr. Parr," Mr. Baxter said in a very deep voice. "I've been expecting you."

Dash smiled and nodded. He didn't know what to say.

"Well, I'm willing to overlook your little causal faux pas…" Mr. Baxter said, pointing at Dash's shorts, "…if you can show me that you would be a valuable asset to my little operation. Johnson! Bring out the experiment baggage!"

The clerk came out from behind the counter with a few suitcases and duffel bags on one of those luggage carts. "Now, I want you to carry these bags to room 1002, on the tenth floor. If you can do it before I get there, you're hired."

Dash gave a snappy salute. "Right away, sir!" But when he grabbed the dolly and dragged it to the elevator, Mr. Baxter stopped him.

"I'll be taking the elevator, Mr. Parr. You will have to take the stairs!"

"No problem."

"Johnson, you come with me."

Once the elevator doors shut, Dash set his plan in motion. First, he made sure nobody was watching. Then he picked up the first suit case…and immediately dropped it. It was much heavier than he expected, like it was full of rocks or something. He mustered up his strength and sprinted up the steps to the assigned room. Then he ran back down to get the next bag. It took him seven trips, but he managed to get all the bags to room 1002 before Mr. Baxter showed up.

Needless to say, Mr. Baxter was stunned. "W-W-Wait," he stammered. "This wasn't supposed to happen! You were supposed to struggle to get just one bag up here, then I'd say 'I admire your sprit' and then hire you anyway!"

"Yeah, but I got them all up here, just like you told me to. Um, if you don't want me to do what you say, I can work with that too."

Mr. Baxter laughed. "I must admit that this feat of…what's the word…grandeur is astonishing! We can use someone like you here at the Sunset. When can you start?"

"Oh, jeez, um, I don't know, I'm getting married tomorrow, and I kind of have to…"

"I see, that's no problem. Why don't you start on the 13th?"

Dash peeked at is watch and figured that that date would be Monday after next. "The 13th would be great," he said. But as Dash turned to leave, Mr. Baxter called after him.

"Johnson, can you give me some time alone with our new hire?" Johnson did as he was told. "All right, Dashell, if that is your real name…"

_Uh, oh, this can't be good,_ he thought to himself.

"I just realized that there is absolutely no way any normal human being could have done what you just did." Mr. Baxter reached into his pocket, pulled out what looked like a baseball card, and handed it to Dash. "Recognize this man?"

Dash's face went ashen. The card depicted Rocket in full costume, looking forward as if into the future. It was his own superhero trading card. Mr. Baxter clearly knew who he truly was. He dropped his arm and let it swing. He knew what was coming next. Getting fired from a job before working for even one full day is bad enough, but having happen twice within three months, that's just sad.

"Would you believe this isn't the first time this has happened to me?" Dash said, on the verge of crying.

"This isn't the first time what has happened to you?"

"That I've lost a job because of my alter ego."

"What are you talking about?"

"Aren't you going to fire me?"

"Of course not, why on earth would you think that?"

Dash was so surprised by this ray of hope, that he was speechless once again. "Um…bdahhan…no reason, I guess," was all he managed to say. Then, "You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

"Relax, Rocket. I understand everything. Your little secret, and your job, are safe with me, okay?"

Dash didn't want to, didn't plan to trust his new boss with this information, but now he had no choice. "Okay," he said reluctantly. He handed the card back to Mr. Baxter. "I'll be on my way now." And he left.

While Dash was doing this, his lovely female companion was back at home, in hysterics. The others were just about tired of hearing this crazed Bridezilla whining and complaining.

"Why?" Kim moaned. "Why did I let that idiot Dashell plan our wedding for tomorrow?"

"I thought you were excited about it," Ashley observed.

"I was, until I realized just how little time we have! We have to call a caterer, book a band…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down!" José interrupted. "Whose life have you been living? You know we can't afford all of that!"

"You're right, I lost my head there for a second. I'm losing everything these days! I've lost control, I've lost track of my boyfriend, I've lost my marbles…I can't even find my glasses now!"

"They're on your head, Kim," said Violet, stifling a laugh.

"Of course they are." When Kim lowered her lenses to her eyes, she burst into tears.

"What? It's just a pair of glasses, why is she bawling?" José wondered.

Violet whispered in his ear, "Time of the month."

Ashley put a hand on Kim's shoulder. "Relax, Kim. Everything is going to be fine." Of course, Ashley would prefer it if _she_ were marrying Dash instead of Kim, but she had become good friends with her, and couldn't stand to see her disappointed. (You know what I mean, so keep your blind jokes to yourself.) "We're your friends, and we're going to make this happen!"

"How can you say that? How can you be so sure we can pull this off?"

"Kim, we're superheroes! Is there anything we can't do?"

"Well," José interjected, "I'm pretty sure Violet can't swim, because she cried for her mommy that one time when she fell into the river."

"Hey! You said you weren't going to bring that up again! And so what if I'm afraid of water? At least I don't scream like a girl when I see a mouse, Hernandez!"

"Guys!" Ashley chided, "Not helping!"

"You're right," said Violet, "we can do this thing! I'll prepare the food!"

"I'll find us a church," offered José.

"I'll start calling some guests," said Kim.

All at once, everyone went in different directions. Ashley was left standing all alone.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" At that moment, she sensed Dash coming into the house. "Oh, good, Dash, can you…"

"HeyAshleysorrycanttalkivegotacaboutsideandthemetersrunningwheresmygunthereitiscoolgottagoseeyabye!"

"…help us out here? Dash was here a second ago, I know it, I felt his presence!"

It was happening again. The people who could see were ignoring her. This wasn't the first time this had happened to Ashley. Her classmates always treated her like she was weird, because she was blind. What made this worse was that she never thought her fellow supers would do this to her, especially Violet.

_Just when you think you know somebody,_ she thought to herself.

"Um, Ashley," Violet said, "would you mind giving me a hand in the kitchen here?"

"I'd love to!" she said with a big smile on her face. She should have never doubted her leader.

(A/N: Sorry it took me awhile to update. I wrestled with myself as to what to put in this chapter, but I think I presented it in a concise manner. Please, oh please, please, please review! I know you guys are reading this, I can see the hits!)


	3. Here comes the Superbride

Dateline: Saturday, July 4, 1981, 10:07 AM, Pacific Daylight Time

Chaos. There was no other word to describe it. Everyone was moving, working, rushing, jostling, bumping into things, and each other! It was like Christmas for Murphy and his law. But somehow, everything seemed to work out just right. When Ashley tripped and spilled red wine all over Kim's gown, Edna was there to get the stains out before they set in. When the church blew a fuse or two, Mirage was there to fix them. When Dash got a rip in his suit, José was there to patch it up. (Yes, he can sew, remember?) Just before Dash was about to take his place at the altar, his father pulled him aside.

"Son," said Bob, "I just want you to know how proud I am of you."

"Thanks, Dad."

"I feel obligated to say something profoundly wise to you, now that you're about to change your life permanently and dramatically. Offhand, I can't think of something that fits that description…"

"Why don't you tell me what I can expect to happen after I say 'I do'?" Dash suggested.

"Oh, you don't want me to tell you what you're getting into, because I'll just talk you out of it!"

"Please, Dad. I really want to know."

Bob sighed. "All right, marriage is the most difficult job you'll ever work, even more difficult than hero work."

"Huh? How's that possible?"

"It's what you stand to lose that makes marriage such a scary proposition. If you screw up a battle with a super villain and he gets away, you can just get him next time. But if you screw up a marriage, you might never see that girl again! That, and she takes half your stuff with her."

"Hmm, I never thought of it that way."

"If you want to spend the rest of your life with Kim, you're going to have to be super, I mean more so than you are already."

"That makes sense."

"So the question is, are you willing to work your butt off so you can be with her? Is she really worth all that effort?"

Dash said nothing. It had never occurred to him what he was getting into. Was Kim really worth all that trouble? He had to think about it. She was beautiful, for one. And she was very smart; he had learned many things from her. And her laugh, wow, there was nothing he loved about her more than her laugh. Dash didn't want to picture his life without her.

"Yes," he said finally, "she is worth it. I love her, Dad, and I want her to be my wife."

Bob smiled. "That's my boy! Now you go out there and tell her that!"

"Yes, sir!"

While this was going on, Helen was having a similar conversation with her future daughter-in-law.

"I've always admired you, Elastigirl," Kim said.

"Yes, I know, honey, you've mentioned that. Many times."

"Ho, boy, am I nervous!"

"Cold feet?" Helen asked.

"I don't think so. Well, maybe."

"Relax, it's perfectly…"

"I suppose it would be normal for one to be a little skittish about making a commitment of this magnitude."

"Uh, yeah, I suppose." What Kim had said threw Helen off balance.

"So why am I experiencing it? I'm not normal, I'm a super, right?"

"Yes, but you're still human."

"I suppose you're right. But I still don't understand why I feel this way."

"I remember getting cold feet when I was about to marry Bob. I wasn't exactly sure I was doing the right thing by settling down. I was the top female superhero in the nation at that time."

"Yeah, I remember."

"But when I saw Bob walking up the aisle, even though he was so damn late, it occurred to me that I was trading up. I was giving up something that I had done for about 11 years for something brand new."

"Hmm, I didn't know you were so insightful, Helen, uh, Mrs. Parr, uh…"

Helen smirked at Kim's eloquence, or rather Kim's lack of eloquence. "Please, call me Mom."

"If you say so, then okay."

The organ started up, and they could hear it from the bridal suite.

"Are you ready to go?" Helen asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Kim admitted.

Sadly, Kim's father wasn't present, and I don't think I need to say why. In any case, she wanted her super idol Elastigirl to walk her down the aisle. But when Kim made her entrance, she felt every eye on her. She didn't know where to look, so her eyes darted rapidly around the sanctuary. She looked at Violet, her maid of honor. She looked at the floor. She looked at Ashley, then José. Finally, her eyes fell on Dash.

Wow, Dash was so handsome in his tuxedo. It made him seem a good three inches taller. He had shaved off his moustache and combed his hair; he looked just like when she first met him. When he caught sight of her, he smiled a goofy crooked smile. Her heart melted, so she had to stop for a moment and pull it back into solid form. When she looked back up, she saw love and determination in Dash's eyes. And she knew deep inside, that he was the one.

"Dearly beloved," Father O'Fallon began, "we are gathered here in the presence of God and men to bear witness to the union of this man and this woman in holy matrimony. If there be anyone with any valid reason why these two should not be wed, please speak now or forever hold your peace."

Ashley bit her tongue.

"Dashell Parr, will you have this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, through good times and bad, forsaking all others, till death do you part?"

"Well, jeez, if you going to make a big legal thing of it…" Everybody laughed, except Kim, who gave him a quick elbow in the ribs. "Just kidding! Of course I will!"

"And Kimberly Lavender, will you have this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, through good times and bad, forsaking all others, till death do you part?"

After seeing the reaction that Dash got, Kim figured she might as well try it too.

"Um, uh, oh, wow, um, could you repeat the question?"

Father O'Fallon did, laughing.

"I will," Kim finally said.

"Then by the power vested in me, by the state of California, I pronounce that this man and the woman be joined in holy matrimony. You may kiss the bride!"

Dash lifted the veil that cover's his now wife's face. He leaned in to kiss her, but he stopped short.

"You look absolutely stunning!" he said.

"Thank you, Dash. Now are you going to kiss me or what?"

Dash placed a hand behind Kim's head and brought her lips to meet his. In that moment he saw his entire future.

"Presenting, for the first time, Mr. & Mrs. Dashell Parr!"

No sooner had those words escaped Father O'Fallon's throat than the sheriff sent out a call on the team's watches.

_Perfect timing,_ Violet thought to herself. Quickly, she stepped in front of the bride and groom. "Excuse me, I'm sorry to steal these two lovebirds away, but we need them more than you do right now."

"Vi, what the hell are you doing?" Kim demanded.

"We're being called in, you guys," Vi responded in a loud whisper.

"Oh. Hey guys," Dash said, "sorry we can't stay, but enjoy the reception without us, okay?"

"Now let's move!"

Alpha Force rapidly ducked into an empty room to dress out. Soon the five were suited up and ready for almost anything. Almost.

(A/N: Was that goofy enough for you? I'm sorry, I'm afraid I'm no good at this emotional stuff. Stick around, because in the next chapter, I'm putting in something you all have waited to see! Until then, tell me how I'm doing!)


	4. Back in the game, so to speak

Dateline: Saturday, July 4, 1981, 11:22 AM, Pacific Daylight Time

There are few things in this world worse than being called into work right after your own wedding. Especially when you're a super hero. Be that as it may, Rocket and Liquegirl knew better than to raise a stink about it. After all, it could have been worse.

"So, sheriff," Python said into her radio, "Who are we fighting today?"

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but we need you to defeat an old enemy, who has escaped from the slammer."

"Oh, please don't let it be Herr Cannon! I can't stand him!" whined Blind Tracy.

"It's Dr. Game Show."

Alpha Force groaned as a unit.

"Not that maniac!" Heartthrob said. "Last time we fought him, we didn't even get to do any fighting!"

"Yeah," added Rocket, "all we did was answer trivia questions!"

"Well," said the sheriff, "somebody has to defuse this bomb he's planted in the library."

"Why not the bomb squad?" asked Python.

"Because I gave them the day off. It's the fourth of July, after all."

"Then why didn't we get the day off?" asked Blind Tracy.

"You know, I'm sure the NSA would love to hear about your little bout of insubordination."

Python seethed. The sheriff's threat was entirely valid. If a super was reported as being insubordinate to the police of their city, he or she could lose their license. "Fine, whatever you say, sir. We'll be there in a jiffy."

"Wow, I've never heard you hiss before, Python."

In time, the team arrived at the library. As anticipated, Dr. Game Show was there, in his bad suit and worse tie. His jet-black hair was styled in a manner that made it look plastic, completing the faux-game show host look.

"Well, look who's finally shown up," he said, "it's Alpha Force!"

"All right, Doctor, where's this bomb you planted?" asked Liquegirl, not expecting him to respond in kind.

"It's right over there, you lucky contestants! And I'll even give you a sporting chance to defuse it!"

"Of course you will," Rocket said uninterestedly.

"See this area around the bomb? You'll notice that I have painted it red. Here's the thing: you guys are not allowed to place even one foot on the red area; if you do, I shall be forced to shot you with this laser gun." He pulled a frighteningly large weapon from behind his back.

"Wait a minute," Heartthrob protested, "how are we supposed to get to the bomb if we can't set foot anywhere near it?"

"That's your problem, not mine!" Dr. Game Show taunted. "The bomb is set to go off in about 90 seconds, so you have a choice to make. Either risk your own life at the behest of my laser, or sacrifice innocent people! Now, choose!"

"I'm afraid your assessment of this situation is not quite accurate!" Python said. "Tracy, I need your assistance!"

Blind Tracy concentrated deeply on lifting Python into the air with her telekinesis. Seeing the team's leader levitate made Dr. Game Show nervous.

"Hey, that's not fair!" He lifted his weapon and aimed it right at the flying serpent. Luckily, Rocket sped from the entrance to charge the irritating doctor. He wrestled him to the ground and took his weapon from him.

"You wouldn't want to be caught breaking the rules of your own game, would you?" Rocket asked.

Dr. Game Show scowled and looked on helplessly. Python was going to defuse the bomb, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"A little more to your left, Tracy…that's it, thaaat's it…easy, easy…okay now lower me slowly…a little more…okay stop!" Python had formed a pair of scissors out of her force field and began to cut wires. However, her watch interrupted her while she was working. Sure enough, it was the sheriff again.

"Alpha Force, we have a 10-25 in progress on Vermont Avenue."

"10-25, what is that? A mugging?" asked Python.

"No, I think it's a car-jacking," said Liquegirl.

"All right, you and Heartthrob go deal with that, take the car. We'll stay here and deal with Dr. Game Show." Python tossed Liquegirl the keys.

"Okay," she responded, and the two of them took off.

Once they were in the car, Heartthrob looked back. He didn't feel to good about leaving his girlfriend behind, and he said so.

"Relax," said Liquegirl, "Vi and the others can take care of Dr. Game Show without us. Now, where's this car-jacking?"

"I think he said Vermont Avenue."

"That's on the other side of town! Oh, well."

Back at the library, Python had just finished defusing the bomb, much to the evil doctor's chagrin. Blind Tracy had set her down on the area that was painted red.  
"Aha!" the doctor screamed, "you're stepping on the forbidden area, so now I have to shoot you!" He snatched the laser gun away from Rocket.

"But I already disabled the bomb," said Python, "so the game is over, right?"

"Wrong! The game's not over until I say it is!" He powered up the gun and aimed it. Python projected a shield, thinking she would protect herself. But at the last second, Dr. Game Show turned and fired at Blind Tracy!

"Look out!" Rocket shouted.

What they all didn't know was that Blind Tracy had anticipated this fake out, thanks to her telepathy. She narrowly avoided getting fried by the doctor's laser. Python and Rocket were both relieved. But now was not the time to sit still!

Rocket tackled the doctor again and the two got into a scuffle over the weapon. During this exchange, the laser discharged once or twice, causing a little collateral damage. It didn't conclude until Blind Tracy came to Rocket's aid, by giving the doctor a telekinetic pressure point in the crook of his elbow. Rocket fell over backward, with the laser still in his hands.

"You fool!" Dr. Game Show cried. "You don't even know how to operate that thing!"

"No, but I think I know how to shut it down!" On that note, he brought the gun down on the edge of a reading table, hard. The menacing contraption exploded into a thousand tiny bits.

"No! What have you done? I was still making payments on that thing!" Dr. Game Show lunged at Rocket, planning to knock him over like a wrecking ball. Rocket tried to run away, but he ran into an invisible wall. When the doctor caught up, he too ran up against something solid and invisible.

"Uh, thank you, Python," said Rocket, "but I could have handled the situation myself."

"Hey," she responded, "you're my brother. Nobody beats up on you but me, okay?"

Dr. Game Show tried to get up, but he couldn't. Python whipped a pair of handcuffs out of a secret compartment in her suit and placed them on the old doctor, tightly.

"Sir," she said into her watch, "the situation at the library is under control. Dr. Game Show is ready for pick-up."

"That's great, Python. Now, what about the 10-25 on Vermont?"

Speaking of which, Heartthrob and Liquegirl had arrived on Vermont Avenue, in time to catch the crooks red-handed.

"Time to take care of business," said Heartthrob, unbuckling his seat belt.

"No, you stay here," said Liquegirl. "I want to see if I can take these guys on myself. If I get ambushed, then you come and save me, okay?"

"If you say so," he responded. He didn't want to argue with her, knowing what was happening to her at the moment.

"S—t, it's Alpha Force!" said one of the three goons when he spotted Liquegirl.

"No, it ain't," said another, "it's just that squishy girlfriend of Rocket's. We can take her."

"Oh, you louses don't want to mess with me today," she told them, "I'm super, and I'm menstruating!"

She struck a fighting pose and dared them to make the first move. Out of the corner of her eye, Liquegirl saw one of the goons circle around to get behind her. "Do you know what a sandwich is?" the leader asked.

She knew, all right. What they were planning to do was to charge at her from behind and from in front, squashing her in between. She didn't move a muscle, though, not even when they started running. At the last second, Liquegirl engaged her power. When the dust settled, she came out without a scratch. The three goons, however…

While Liquegirl was dealing with the bad guys, Heartthrob decided he should calm down the victim, a young man.

"Sir, you have nothing to worry about, we have the situation under control," he said.

"Thank you, Heartthrob," said the young man in a familiar voice.

Heartthrob got a good look at the man, and was surprised by who he was.

"You're the Wicked Wichard of the West-by-Northwest!" he exclaimed.

"Not anymore, I'm not. I had my magic stolen by Herr Cannon, remember? So, I'm neither a witch nor a wizard anymore. Please, call me Loren."

"Okay, Loren…"

"Listen, I'm glad I found you. Could you tell Python that I'm sorry for all the hell I've put her through? I'm a changed man now!"

"I'll tell her," Heartthrob said, not sure if he could believe him.

"Thanks," said Loren. And he drove off.

Heartthrob stepped over to where Liquegirl had cuffed the car-jackers. Just then, his radio crackled to life.

"Sir," he heard Python say, "the situation at the library is under control. Dr. Game Show is ready for pick-up."

"See?" Heartthrob said to Liquegirl, "I told you they could handle themselves!"

Liquegirl rolled her eyes.

"That's great, Python. Now, what about the 10-25 on Vermont?"

"The 10-25 has been quelled, sir," said Liquegirl.

"Excellent! I needed to know that you guys could handle multiple situations at the same time."

"I don't understand, sir," said Python.

"You will. How soon can you guys get to my office? Don't answer that, just get here now. Baker out."

"Do you want us to come pick you up?" asked Liquegirl.

"No," responded Rocket, "you guys go ahead. We'll get there our own way. I love you!"

"I love you too!"

(A/N: Sorry this chapter was so long, you guys. What do you think so far? Don't worry, the Europe assignment I promised is coming soon to a web browser near you! Please review! And be honest, so I can better myself.)


	5. A New Assignment?

Dateline: Saturday, July 4, 1981, 2:34 PM, Pacific Daylight Time

"Are you sure the guys will show up in time?" Liquegirl asked Heartthrob while they drove to the police station.

"Kimberly, I'm sure they have something planned," he responded. "Come on, how do you think Vi and Dash got around before they had this car?"

"I have no idea."

The two of them arrived before the other three did.

"Well, where are they?" Liquegirl asked.

Just then, a large purple ball rolled into the parking lot. Inside it were Rocket, Python, and Blind Tracy. When Heartthrob and Liquegirl saw the Alpha Force Power Ball, they reacted in awe and wonder.

"Yeah, it is pretty cool, huh?" said Rocket. "Of course, it's all Violet."

"Oh, don't be so modest, Dash," she answered.

"Um, guys," said Blind Tracy, "shouldn't we dress out before we go in to see the sheriff?"

"Nah, it's cool."

Soon, the team was inside the office of James Baker, sheriff of Metroville, warden of the local jail, and Justice of the Peace. Python looked up at the man, suddenly remembering that she had never seen him face to face in her entire career. James was a large man, both in the vertical and horizontal directions. He wore a police uniform, which made him seem even more terrifying.

But what the team would remember about him most was his hair. It was bluish-black, just like Violet's, only he wore it in a crew cut.

"What are you staring at, Python? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm sorry, sir, please forgive me!"

"Pull yourself together! A superhero shouldn't act like a sniveling servant, even in the presence of her superiors. But enough chitchat, let's talk about why I called you here.

"First of all, I'm impressed with how you guys were able to split up and handle multiple problems simultaneously. I'm glad to see you can work separately just as well as you can together. You guys are going to need that ability if you accept this assignment that just came across my desk.

"It seems that there's a group of five villains causing trouble in five different cities in Europe. The local supers would deal with the problem themselves, but these villains are much too strong for them. (Their words, not mine.) So the call was placed to the NSA to recruit five American supers to combat this European threat."

"Let me guess," Python interrupted, "the name 'ALPHA FORCE' came up first on the list?"

"Actually, no, your name came up second. Another team of supers from Wisconsin turned the mission down, they said they had too much to live for."

"Cowards," Heartthrob muttered under his breath.

"Anyway, as your dispatcher, it falls to me to tell the NSA whether or not you guys will accept the mission. Now, before you give me your decision, let me just say that this assignment will pay five times the usual reward, whereas it is five times larger than your average exotic mission. So, what say you? Yea or Nay?"

All of them wanted to speak up all at once, but Python stopped them. "Alpha huddle!" she said. And the team huddled up.

"What are you doing, Vi?" asked Liquegirl. "Come on, free vacation plus gobs of money? What is there to talk about?"

"My mother taught me that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," she explained. "Besides, think about it. There are five of them in five different cities and only five of us. You do the math!"

"Oh, wow," said Blind Tracy. "I don't know if I could take on a super-villain all by myself! That's why I joined Alpha Force in the first place!"

"I could stand to get back into solo action," said Heartthrob.

"This isn't just about you, José," Rocket chided. "This is about all of us, and I don't know if I want to spend a trip to Europe apart from my wife."

"Oh, man, I didn't even think about that," said Liquegirl. "We haven't even consummated our union yet!"

Python pulled her head out of the huddle and asked James, "If we do accept this mission, when will we have to leave?"

"Late in the envening tonight. You'll need to be at Heathrow by 7:00 PM Sunday local time."

Python ducked back in. "That give you two plenty of time to, um, you know, uh…"

"Oh, just say it, Vi, 'have sex'!"

"Right, have sex before we get into the thick of things. I say we go ahead and accept the mission. What do you guys say?"

"In light of this new information," said Liquegirl, "I vote yes."

"Count me in!" said Heartthrob.

"I'll accept it," said Rocket.

"Ah, what the hell?" said Blind Tracy.

The team pulled out of the huddle and said in unison, "We accept, sir."

"Great, I'll call the NSA right away. That will be all, you're dismissed."

As soon as they left, James placed a call, but not to the NSA.

"All right," he said into the phone, "I got them to accept the mission, now you have to hold up your end of the bargain…by the way, what's going to happen to them, you're not going to hurt them are you?…Uh, huh…Uh, huh…Oh, sweet merciful heavens!" He hung up. "What have I done? Wait, what am I so worried about? They're supers, they can find a way out of this, can't they?"

Back at the house, Violet started barking orders right away.

"All right, guys, before we go, I need your super suits, they need to be washed, trust me, they reek!"

After she got the team uniforms in the washer, she started making some phone calls.

"Father O'Fallon? It's Violet. Listen, My roommates and I won't be attending this Sunday's worship service."

"Why not?"

"You know that thing I can't talk about in front of the other parishioners?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"My team and I are going to be in Europe on official business that day, and we might not return."

"Oh, my! We'll all be praying for you guys."

"Thanks for understanding. See you soon, I hope."

She put the receiver down for only three seconds, then picked it right back up and dialed another number.

"Snug's charter service, this is Helen speaking."

"Mom, it's me,"

"Violet?"

"No, Stratogale. Of course it's Violet!"

"Well, hi sweetie, how are you?"

"I'm fine, listen, I need to cash in a favor you owe me."

"Of course, do you even have to ask? You're my only daughter and I'd do anything for you! What do you need, buttercup?"

"A ride. Can you get us to London before sunrise?"

"BEFORE sunrise?"

"We kind of have to be there by seven local time. What time is that here?"

"I think it would be noon or somewhere around there."

"Okay, so what? We should leave atmidnight or something?"

"I'll have the jet waiting for you."

"Thanks, Mom." She hung up.

Just then, Violet noticed Ashley sitting outside of Dash's bedroom door. She seemed to be concentrating on something, and whatever it was, it was making her smile.

"Get away from there, you little pervert!" she scolded.

"Shh!" Ashley responded.

"Ashley, what do you think you're doing!" Kim shouted from behind the closed door. "Get out of here!"

"Well, thank you very much, Violet!" Ashley said. "Now I know why the call you Python, because only snakes have mouths that big!" She stormed off.

(A/N: I'm sorry I got a little risqué at the end there, but that joke was too good to pass up! If you guys wish, I won't do any more suggestive stuff like that ever again. Please let me know how I'm doing, and be honest. How can I get better if you guys aren't honest?)


	6. Beating The Clock

Dateline: Saturday, July 4, 1981, 11:39 PM, Pacific Daylight Time

BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!

Violet had been saving that air horn for something important. She figured this was as important as anything else was.

"Come on, people, we've got work to do! Let's get up and move out!"

Ashley was the first to stir. "Damn it, Vi, I'm already blind! Isn't one handicap enough?"

"Sorry, but we only have twenty minutes to get to the airport, so we all need to be up and at 'em!" She strode to Dash's room and blew the air horn again.

"All right, you two lovebirds, get up! It's showtime!" She went back to her own bedroom and tried to rouse José. "come on, sugar pie, rise and shine!"

"I'll rise, but I won't shine!"

"José, don't make me get the water bucket!"

"All right, all right, I'm up!" He stood up and got dressed.

Back in the kitchen, Kim had finally awoken too. She was singing what she thought was a decent rendition of "That's Amore".

"Vi, I don't mean to brag, but your brother is an amazing lover!"

"Ew! I don't want to know that!"

"He may be fast on his feet, but he's..." She was cut off by Violet placing a hand over her mouth.

"SHH! Don't you have a shred of discretion in your body, Kim, or is it all glop?"

"Oh, jeez, Violet, I had no idea you were such a prude! So, what's for breakfast?"

"No time for that, no time! We need to move out! Where's your husband?"

Just as soon as his bossy sister said that, Dash straggled out of his room, half-asleep. He let out a yawn that could have registered on the Richter scale. "Violet," he said in a soft yet gravelly voice, "why did you have to convince me to take this mission? It's not even midnight yet!"

"Dammit, Dash, you're supposed to be faster than this! Quit dragging your feet and move!"

Dash groaned asshe left the room."How can Violet possibly have this much energy on this little sleep?"

"I think she's overtired," said Kim.

"Overtired?"

"Yeah, she's so freaking tired that she can't comprehend how tired she is."

"I thought that only happened to infants," noted Ashley.

"It can happen to adults too. If Violet doesn't get some sleep pronto, she could simply drop in the middle of combat. Speaking of Violet, here she comes now."

"All right, has everyone got thier luggage, thier suits? Good, everyone been the the bathroom? I'm not stopping until we get to the airport, understood?"

All at once, everyone went to the nearest restroom. Dash, being naturally sp...check that, supernaturally speedy, managed to get the one in the hallway. José thought he could get to the master bath first, but Ashley beat him there. He went back to the hallway, expected Dash to finish in there quickly. But when José tried to get inside, Dash blocked him so that Kim could get to it first.

"Man," he complained, "what's the deal? I need in there!"

"True," Dash responded, "but Kim needs in there more than you do. She's a girl, think about it!"

"Well, where am I supposed to go, um, do my business?"

"You could always go in the yard."

"Dash, you're disgusting! I am not going to pee in the yard!"

"Suit yourself, but the way I see it, you can either go in the yard, or you can wait for one of two females."

José couldn't aruge with that logic. Dejected, he did go outside for just that reason.

"All right, honey," he said when he was finished, "I think we're all good to go."

"José, what were you doing outside?" asked Violet.

"No time for that, dear, no time! Let's get in the car!"

And they did. They managed to arrive at the airport just five minutes before midnight. After getting past security to gain access to the runway, the young supers ran to meet their plane on the tarmac. Helen had already lowered the stairs on the small Learjet, so they could rush right in. She was still in the cockpit, so they didn't see her.

"Mom, we don't have time to waste!" Violet shouted. "I don't know if you can hear me, but as soon as the plane is ready, floor it!"

Quickly, the ground crew shut the door to the plane, the team strapped themselves down, and Helen maxed out the throttle. The jet screamed down the runway and took off just as fast. Not long after that, Helen came over the intercom.

"Attention Alpha Force, this is your pilot speaking. We have reached our target velocity; we are now turning off the seat belt light. You are now free to move about the cabin. We will be making a brief stop at Kennedy Airport in New York before continuing to our final destination of London, England. Estimated time of arrival, 6:25 PM Greenwich Mean Time, 11:25 Pacific Daylight Time."

"You mean we're going to be stuck on this plane for twleve hours?" Ashley said a little bit louder than she probably should have.

"Eleven and a half, Ashley. Don't be so dramatic."

"Great," said Violet, "we can work on our tactical maneuvers while we're in the air."

"Oh, no!" said Kim. "You need to get some sleep, chief."

"No, I don't! I'm not tired at all!"

"That's the problem," she responded, and then went on to explain just how tired Violet really was.

"Okay, I guess that makes sense, but I don't know if I can make myself sleep if I don't feel sleepy."

"Just sit down," Kim assured her, "I'll take care of it."

"What are you going to do, sing me to sleep?"

"You better believe it!"

"Kim, I don't think this is going to..." Kim shushed her, and began to sing...

_Lullaby, and good night, go to sleep, little Python._

_You must lie down, and rest, so you'll be ready to fight._

The amazing thing was the song actually worked! After just th first verse, Violet was snoring like a chainsaw.

"Way to go, honey," said Dash. "Oh, you know what we should do now? Let's shave her bald and wait for her reaction!"

"No, Dash, we're not doing that! It's cruel, immature, and it's not funny. Let's just draw on her face, like we planned."

"You're no fun, you realize that?"

(A/N: I'm sorry I have'nt been updating as often as usual, but I have an incredible forgive the pun situation here at home. I'll try to update as often as I can. Keep reviewing, and stay beautiful, people!)


	7. Dreams and Prayers

Dateline: Sunday, July 5, 1981, 3:12 AM, Pacific Daylight Time.

Violet was standing in an empty hallway. The building looked sort of like a school. She had seen this school before, but where? She felt a strange sense of navigational power, like she knew where she was, even though she had never been here before. And then she heard it.

"Violet!"

The sound of her brother's voice called to her. He sounded like he was in trouble. Violet raced after him, following her fraternal instinct. But just then, she heard it again.

"Violet!"

Wait a minute, that was Ashley's voice, wasn't it? She heard José and Kimberly too, calling out to her, calling for help. All of the voices seemed to be coming from the same place. She ran through the halls to find them. Violet swung open the door to the gym, and there her team was. She found them cowering in the corner, staring up at a figure in a black cape. The figure was no taller than she was.

"Please," Dash said to the creature, "don't do this! It's just not right!"

"Why?" asked Kim, "Why? How could you betray us like this?"

"Violet," said Ashley, "please let us be! We're sorry!"

_What did she say?_ Violet quietly sneaked around behind the cloaked figure. She gave it a quick jab square in the jaw.

"All right, who the hell are you, and what do you think you're going to do to them?"

The figure turned around and pulled off its hood. Violet got a good look at its face, and her jaw dropped. Its face was her face. The creature bedeviling her friends was herself.

"Oh, God, no!" she screamed.

"Oh, God, yesssssssssss!" hissed the other Violet, a snake's tongue sliding between her teeth as she did.

Violet dropped to her knees and started to cry. Then she felt something on her shoulder.

"Violet, wake up!"

Violet screamed. She looked around. She was back on the airplane. The whole ordeal had been a dream. José was standing over her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just had a really bad dream is all."

"You want some coffee or something, calm your nerves?"

"No, I don't think that would help. José?"

"Hmm?"

"You know that I love you, right?"

"Of course, I've never doubted that. Why do you ask?"

"Uh, no reason, I guess."

José looked confused. "Okay, Vi." He turned and left her, all by herself. The dream still haunted Violet, and she was determined to find out what it meant.

"Relax, Violet," said Ashley. "Dreams are merely an abstraction of our unconscious thoughts and fears."

Violet didn't need to ask how Ashley knew what she was thinking. Instead she asked her sightless friend, "How do you know so much about dreams?"

"When you're the daughter of a psychoanalyst, you pick up a few things like that."

"Your dad was a shrink?"

"My mother was a shrink. Do you think that may have had any effect on my powers?"

"I doubt it, but we're getting off topic. You mean to tell me that if I tell you my dream, you can interpret it?"

"I'm not licensed to, but I'll do what I can."

Violet took a deep breath, and relayed everything that happed in her dream, down to the frightening confrontation with herself.

"Holy Christ, that is one spooky dream!"

"Why are you telling Him that? He already knows it!"

"Oh, real subtle, boss. Anyway, the way I see it, you're afraid of facing an enemy who is identical to you in every way possible."

"You mean like an evil clone of myself?"

"Maybe. Either that, or you're afraid you'll betray us."

"That's what I thought at first. But, I could never betray you guys!"

"Are you sure?"

"Ashley, I love you like you were my own daughter, and I would never do anything to hurt you. Never forget that, okay?"

"I know, Vi, I was just messing with you!"

Just then, Violet saw Dash speed past her. "Where is it?" he muttered to himself as he searched the cabin. Violet grabbed him by the arm. "What, Vi? I'm kind of in the middle of something here."

"I just wanted to tell you how much I love you, Dash."

"Thanks, is that all?"

Violet gripped her brother in a tight embrace, much to his chagrin. As Violet hugged Dash, she felt something unusual on his back.

"Dash, are you wearing a bra?"

"Oh, so that's where it went! Thanks, sis. Hey, Kim, I found it, here it is!"

Violet stared at her hands in disgust, then sprinted to the bathroom to wash up.

After that little incident, the rest of the flight was mostly uneventful. They refueled the jet in New York around 7 AM local time, then flew straight to London.

Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, however, Ashley raised an interesting issue.

"Hey, Violet," she said, "are you sure we can succeed in this mission?"

"Of course! What makes you doubt that?"

"It's just that I've never had to fight a super villain alone before, and I don't know if I could do it."

"What are you talking about?" said Dash. "You're the one who single-handedly defeated the Wicked Wichard that one Saturday at E's house, remember?"

"Yeah, but what about me?" asked Kim. "I'm newer at this than all of you, and unlike Ashley, I've always had you guys around."

"You're right, Kim," Violet answered. "What would make you feel more confident about this assignment?"

"Could we pray?"

"I suppose. What could it hurt?"

The team formed a circle holding hands. Together they bowed their heads, as Kimberly prayed aloud.

"Dear God, we humbly ask that you be with us, each one of us, during this most perilous mission in foreign lands. Um, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen."

"Amen," the team echoed.

"Attention, Alpha Force," Helen said over the radio, "please return to your seats and buckle your seat belts. Please return your seat backs and tables to their full and upright position, we are beginning our final decent into Heathrow Airport. Local time is 6:29 PM."

"This is it," said José. "May God have mercy on us all."

(A/N: Good news! The incredible situation at my house has been quelled, so you can expect more frequent updates! In the meantime, please review!)


	8. Mission Breifings

Dateline: Sunday, July 5, 1981, 6:30 PM, Greenwich Mean Time

"My, what a beautiful sunrise," Dash said as he got off the aircraft.

"Yes it is beautiful, honey, but it's sunset," Kim corrected.

"It is? Boy, I must be seriously jet-lagged!"

"So, where is this guy we were supposed to meet?" asked Ashley.

"James said he was supposed to be waiting for us right at the end of the runway," said Violet.

"There he is, I see him!" observed Dash.

The team rushed down to their contact.

"Good evening, Alpha Force," he said with a thin British accent. "I am Harry Robinson with the European League of Supers. Is this all of you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Why are you not in costume?"

"Uh, I don't know, I didn't think it would matter?"

"Never mind that, you do have them with you, right?"

"Of course!"

"Good. As I'm sure you've been informed, you will be sent to five different cities to stop a different villain in each one. The city to which each of you will be flown has been pre-determined. Which one of you is Python?"

"That would be me," said Violet.

Harry handed her a tape player and instructed her to play it once airborne. Then he directed her to one of five helicopters specially marked with the ELS logo. He did the same thing with the rest of the team.

Before they took off, Dash and Kim kissed each other goodbye and José held Violet in his arms for a while. Then Violet came to Ashley.

_Don't worry Ash,_ she thought-spoke, _you'll be just fine. When the moment of truth comes, you will know what to do. I believe in you._

"Thank you," Ashley answered with a tear in her eye.

And with that, the five were off. Where they would go, whom they would face, they didn't know…yet. But the tapes would answer all their questions.

"Good evening, Miss Parr. Right now, you are being taken to the city of Nice, France. There, a crazed lunatic who calls himself Monsieur Mincemeat is causing trouble. Mincemeat is a cannibal with an expertise in swordplay. Sure, all he wants is a meal, but France can't afford a population decline of this magnitude, so he must be stopped. You've been selected for this assignment by virtue of your fluency in the native tongue. We wish you the best of luck, Python."

"Good evening, Mister Parr. As we speak, you are on your way to Zurich, Switzerland. The famous banks of Zurich are in jeopardy from one Princess Polymer. Polymer was once a celebrated chemist and physician. However, the medical community never embraced her revolutionary ideas. She went mad as a result. Polymer currently has two heads, six arms, and four legs, due to drastic surgery she performed on herself. She now finances her research by robbing banks. You've been selected for this assignment by virtue of your unparalleled fighting skill. Take her down, Rocket."

"Good evening, Miss Cohen. If you can hear this, it means you are en route to Munich, Germany. Destruction has a name in Munich today: Five-Alarm Jim, or Fiver Jim for short. Jim is a pyrokinetic who has already demolished thirty buildings in town. The people of Munich have tried everything to stop him. Brute force didn't work, and we couldn't reason with him because he cannot speak. The only thing we haven't tried so far is a mental attack, and that's why you were selected for this assignment. You are Germany's last hope, Blind Tracy."

"Good evening, Mister Hernandez. Your destination is the industrious city of Barcelona, Spain. A ruthless assassin in on the prowl there, one Tomcat. Tomcat once set his ambitions on being a superhero. However, his feline powers were considered too feminine and the public never accepted him. In a fit of rage, he made a vow of vengeance against Spain. His newest target is the mayor of Barcelona. You've been selected for this assignment for stealth reasons. Stop this fat cat, Heartthrob."

"Good evening, Missus Parr. You are about to be dropped off in the waterlogged city of Venice, Italy. This city's claim to fame is about to be put on ice by elderly villain Auntie Arctica. You may recognize the name as one of Frozone's old foes, with powers that are identical to his. In fact, the two Aunties are one and the same. Her devious plan is to freeze the canals solid, destroying the town infrastructure, and bringing Venice to her knees. You have been selected for this assignment by virtue of your fluency of the native tongue. You must not allow Auntie Arctica to succeed, Liquegirl."

Violet had already started to do a few dry runs of the battle she was soon to fight, when the tape said something else…that it would self-destruct in 15 seconds. She swore loudly as she ejected the smoldering tape and chucked it out the chopper window. Seconds later it exploded with a muted _pop_.

"What is it with these people and their exploding tapes?" she wondered aloud. "That has to be a waste of money!" But now was not the time to be ranting about something trivial, and she knew that. The helicopter landed on the roof of some tallish building and Violet jumped out.

"You might want to reset your watch, Python!" said the pilot. "Nice is ahead of London by one hour!"

"Thanks. Now, all I need is a place to dress out."

"You might want to try that abandoned storage shed," he said, pointing to something on the roof. Then he waved goodbye and took off. In a matter of minutes, the young serpent was ready for action. But there was still one problem…

"Hey, where are the stairs?"

Alas, there were no stairs. This building was merely a place to land choppers. There was nothing on the inside. Python had to get down, somehow. Luckily, she had been in this situation before, and she knew what to do.

First, Python leapt from the roof feet first. Then, while in free fall, she cast a quick force field around herself to soften the blow of impact. After bouncing up and down a few times, she righted herself, dispersed the shield, and landed on her feet, without injury.

"Now, if only I could find Monsieur Mincemeat," said Python.

"You won't have to," someone behind her said in French.

Python whirled around and saw a stout man with a very big sword, raised above him as if preparing to strike.

"Are you the Python?" he asked. (In French, of course.)

"Oui."

"I've never had a super forsupper before. You'll be a welcome treat for me!" He licked his lips hungrily.

"Sorry, as tempting as that sounds, I have somewhere I need to be tomorrow. Call my office, we'll do breakfast, okay?"

"Not okay! I'm hungry now!" And he lunged at Python, sword raised.

(A/N: Wow! Could I have picked a crueler place to stop? Sorry, but I need to be sure you guys will keep reading. And reviewing. Tell you what, you tell me how I'm doing, and I'll keep writing. Don't go away, we're almost to the fun part!)


	9. Python v M Mincemeat

Dateline: Sunday, July 5, 1981, 7:37 PM, Parisian Standard Time.

The business end of Monsieur Mincemeat's sword glimmered faintly in the light of the setting sun. In a state of panic, Python projected a force field around herself. She wanted to be a lot of things in her lifetime, but dinner wasn't one of them. The sword bounced off the shield and landed on the ground.

"What is this?" Mincemeat asked. "I thought the power of Python was invisibility!"

"And I thought you would have hair. I guess we're both wrong!"

Mincemeat growled as he picked up his sword again. He swung it horizontally, wanting to slice her across her chest. Alas, his attack was blocked once again. A few more wasted blows later, Mincemeat was very much annoyed. "Is that all you can do?" he jeered. "Can't you fight back?"

"I'm glad you asked," Python responded smiling. "Shadowblade!"

Shouting that word didn't really do anything, she only did it for dramatic effect. Python had formed another force field in the shape of a sword, which she held in her hand. "Enguarde, monsieur!"

_This short American super thinks she can out-fence me?_ Mincemeat smiled a devious smile and tapped the Shadowblade. Then he swung at her. Python blocked the thrust. Mincemeat began to advance, forcing her to back up. Python felt her back against the wall, and lost her focus. Before she could react, Mincemeat's blade struck her just above the eye. Python winced as she fell.

"Excuse me, you don't mind if I…?" the villain said. He dabbed his finger against her freshly opened wound and brought the blood to his lips. "Hmm. It's a little sweet, but that should be no problem. I've got plenty of salt. Huh?" Mincemeat didn't notice that his enemy had recovered. Before he could react, Python gave him a sharp jab right in the old breadbasket. He moaned in agony.

"Get up and fight like a man, you lummox," she taunted as she called the Shadowblade back into her hand. Mincemeat got up. He seethed with rage, then he charged at his foe. Just as he was about to connect his blade with her flesh again, she took two steps to the left. Mincemeat, unable to stop himself, crashed into a wall.

"I hate comedy fights," he whined. Mincemeat spun to face Python. "All right, you win this round, but our little bought is not yet finished!"

"Bring it on!" she said, lifting her sword. Python figured she could get the upper hand by stepping forward, so she did. Mincemeat was forced into a retreat. He was backed into a wall, just like Python was before. But just as she was preparing to deliver the final blow, Mincemeat stepped sideways, and Python's blade hit nothing but air. She had to react fast if she wanted to keep her edge, but alas, she did not.

Mincemeat struck Python on the shoulder. She grabbed it in pain, dropping her sword in the process. Python noticed that Mincemeat didn't draw any blood, yet she felt a sharp pain like something internal had been ruptured. While she was concentrating on her injury, Mincemeat prepared to strike once again. Python screamed and put up a shield to protect herself. The sword didn't touch her, but it did slice right through the shield.

_What the…? It's supposed to be stronger than that!_ Mincemeat raised his blade one last time, and struck Python with swing so forceful, it shattered the very air. She went flying, and hit the ground pretty hard. Python groaned in anguish. She tried to get up, but her arm still hurt very much. Feeling like she had finally been defeated, she rolled over on her back to face the sky. Monsieur Mincemeat was standing over her.

"How does it feel to tumble to the dirt?" he taunted, pointing his blade at her. "You tried your best and you failed miserably. Some hero you turned out to be."

Python could have snapped back at him, but she was busy formulating a plan. She tried to call the Shadowblade back, but nothing happened. It didn't matter, because the cannibal was still monologuing, so she had time to think of something else. Python observed that he wasn't looking at her anymore. She turned invisible and waited for the right moment.

"Well, that's enough of that, let's get you home so I can…Hey, where'd she go?"

That was the very line she was waiting for. Python delivered a swift kick to his crotch, and when he winced, she grabbed his leg and flipped him like a pancake. Then she grabbed his sword and pinned his shirt to the ground. Python reappeared and went on to deliver a few kicks in the head, just enough to knock him out, but not kill him.

Full of victorious pride, Python tried to pull the handcuffs out of her suit, only to find that they weren't there. The she remembered that she left them on Dr. Game Show back in the States. Still, she had to bind the monster in case he woke up before the police came by. She looked around and found a piece of rope sticking out of a trash can. Python pulled it out and used it to tie up Monsieur Mincemeat. Then she ran out of the alleyway to the nearest phone booth.

"Yes, that's right, sir," she said in French, "just behind Bourbon Street. Hurry, he'll wake up soon."

In no time at all, the French police arrived. Python had to help them load the cannibal onto the paddy wagon, because of how heavy he was. She then pulled his sword out of the ground and handed it to the cops.

"Here, you may need this as evidence," Python said.

"Nonsense!" said one of the officers. "You should keep it, as a souvenir!"

"Well, if you insist, how could I refuse? Right, then, I guess I'll be on my way…"

"But you can't leave now, Python! You only just got here! Stay a while, enjoy Nice!"

"I can't, I'm needed back in California."

"Surely, you could stay for just one evening? Work off that jet lag, lick your wounds? See the city? Nice throws a grand Mardi Gras party, you know!"

"What are you, a police officer or a travel agent?"

"You do what you can when you're short on money, no?"

Python smiled. "How true, how true. I suppose I could stay here for one night."

"Fantastic!" And then they left. Python found a public restroom to change in, and was back on the street as an average American tourist.

While she was walking, Violet contemplated the new weapon she had acquired. She had done better than she thought she would with the Shadowblade. Maybe she could use this real blade someday. Now she understood why other supers grabbed weapons form their vanquished enemies. You know finder's keepers and all that.

"I shall call this blade Venom, and it shall be mine, and it shall be my Venom! Dash is going to get a real kick out of this! I wonder where he is right now, and how he's doing against whatever bad guy he's facing?"

(A/N: So? How was that? I'm really proud of this battle, I think it's my best one yet. Tell me the truth, so that I can make the next part better. And stick around, because the fun is just beginning!)


	10. Rocket v Princess Polymer

Dateline: Sunday, July 5, 1981, 7:38 PM, Parisian Standard Time.

"Good luck, sir!" said the chopper pilot as he took off from the hospital roof. Dash knew the very first thing he had to do was get down from here. Luckily, there was a staircase that led to the inside. Once he was there, he ducked into the nearest men's room to change. Within three minutes, Rocket emerged from the front door, ready to clean up Zurich.

_Now, if I were a bank robber, where would I go? To the nearest bank of course! If it were any other country, that would be helpful information, but this is Switzerland, the banking capital of the planet. _

And then he heard something. Police sirens! Rocket decided that even if it wasn't Princess Polymer, it was still a chance to save people. He could use the warm-up. He followed close behind.

When he arrived, the police were negotiating with a kidnapper. Rocket couldn't understand a word they were saying, because he didn't speak German. Or, at least he thought it was German. Foreign languages were never his strong suit, but I digress. Anyway, Rocket sized up the situation and formulated a plan; it was infrequently that he did so.

_I'll bet I could get up there, rescue the hostage, and bring him back here before anyone even notices I'm there. _So, that's what he did. No, wait, that's what he tried to do. He sped up next to the kidnapper and sucker-punched him square in the jaw. On a reflex, the kidnapper loosened his grip on the hostage. Rocket scooped him (the hostage) up in a fireman's carry. But he didn't take more than two steps before the kidnapper realized what was going on. When he saw his hostage on the shoulders of some foreign superhero near the police, he went nuts!

The kidnapper waved his gun in the air and shouted what Rocket figured must be expletives. He leveled it and the police and fired off two or three shots. Rocket decided the time to act was now. He quickly stepped past the squad cars to the maniac. Once there, he disarmed him and forced him to the ground. Rocket held him in place as the police bound him and took him away.

With order restored, the police began to thank Rocket in their native tongues. Befuddled, he held up his hands as if to say "Enough!"

"Um, English?"

"I speak English!"

"Oh, thank God!"

"My friends and I just want to say how grateful we are that you have come to help. If there is anything you need, Mr.…?"

"Call me Rocket."

"…Mr. Rocket, you just let us know, okay?"

"Actually, I'm looking for someone. Have you seen a female bank robber…"

"On a weekly basis, sir. This is Switzerland, after all."

"…With two heads, six arms, and four legs?" Rocket finished.

"Oh! You're the American super who was sent to get rid of Princess Polymer!"

"Uh, yeah, I guess."

"I will personally escort you to her hideout."

"Thank you very much. Wait, if you know where her hideout is, why haven't you arrested her yourself?"

"You think we haven't tried?"

"Oh, I see." Rocket swallowed hard. Suddenly, he didn't feel so confident.

It was only a few minutes before the English-speaking cop pointed him to a narrow door on the side of a building. Rocket was still a little nervous, so he cracked his knuckles loudly, then cracked his neck. That always loosened him up in a pinch.

"Showtime," he said, with a small crack in his voice.

He lifted his right leg and planted a kick square on the lock, just like his mother had taught him. He heard what sounded like two women screaming. Rocket rushed in and took a good look at the place. It looked just like every other mad scientist's lab he had ever been in, with the boiling liquids in beakers, the electrodes, the massive supercomputer and whatnot.

Then he heard two female voices speaking in unison. They said something he couldn't understand.

"English?"

"Who are you and what do you want here?"

"Um, I'm a superhero…" He paused. "…who has been sent here to, um, shut you down, I think."

"Well, you thought wrong, two eyes!"

And then he saw her. Emerging from the dark part of the lab was a female body, with two heads, six arms, and four legs, just like the tape had said.

"Ah, you must be Princess Polymer. That looks like a lot of expensive surgery you've had. Did you keep the receipt?"

"I preformed this surgery on myself," said the left head.

"Like I said, did you keep the receipt?"

"Look, are we going to talk," said the right head, "or are we going to fight?"

"Actually, a conversation would be kind of nice right about now. I've never talked to someone who could speak in stereo!"

"I'd rather talk to a man-eating shark with a sore tooth!"

"But what if your mother already has plans?"

Polymer gasped…twice. "That's it!" she said, in stereo. She charged right at Rocket. She was faster than he had expected what with her having four legs and all. Still, he managed to get away from her.

"Come on! You can do better than that, right?" Rocket taunted.

Polymer growled and charged again, with three fists raised. Rocket tried to block, but he couldn't stop all of them. He went down like a ton of bricks. But he wasn't discouraged. His mother had taught him that villains always kick the hero when he's down. Knowing what Polymer would do, he could prepare for it. Rocket grabbed her foot when it came at him. Then he pulled hard in an attempt to flip her over. But with three legs on the ground, the Princess wouldn't budge. Rocket was out of ideas, so he did what he did best. He ran and hid.

"Come out, come out, wherever you aren't! You're only making me angry!"

_I've been going about this all wrong,_ Rocket thought to himself. _I may be fast, but she's got too many limbs. I need to strike when she isn't expecting it. Total surprise; that's the only way to bring her down._ That's when he noticed the ladder, which led to the scaffolding of her lab. _This should help me get the drop on her, _he thought. And with the stealthiest of superhero cool, he maneuvered himself into position.

_This is the perfect spot. If she's a sane mad scientist, she'll have to come back to her computer some time. _Holding himself off the ground with the last of his waning strength, Rocket waited. His muscles strained. At that moment, he remembered his gym teacher telling him that the flexed arm hang could save his life. The irony was not lost on his part. Rocket started to sweat a little bit. With every ounce of muscle occupied with holding up his wait, he was unable to stop a drop of his perspiration from hitting the ground. He cringed, expecting the rouge drop to give him away.

Luckily, it didn't. Rocket was relived. Then he felt himself slipping. He flailed his arms trying to get a better hold on the bars. He managed to do it, and bring some minor relief to his aching muscles. He felt the burn of strenuous work on every square inch of his body. Rocket wasn't sure he could hold his position much longer. Then he saw her, Princess Polymer, stepping up to the screen.

_This is it, don't chicken out now,_ he told himself. He let go, and he felt magnificent. The strain was gone, and he felt like he was three inches taller. He felt weightless. Rocket took a deep breath and it was like taking his very first. He was without a doubt in a state of sheer and utterly encompassing euphoria.

Until he landed.

**_CRASH!_**

"Ohhhhhh!" Princess Polymer moaned. "I think you have broken something!"

"Yeah, I think so too, no, wait." Rocket put a hand on his neck and twisted it. A sound like a _crack_ was heard. "Oh, no, it's just a crick, I'm okay, no damage."

"I swear! If I ever get up from here, I'm going to make you suffer for what you have done to me!"

"Good to know," said Rocket. He stood up and went to the door. "All right, you guys, she's been subdued. You can go ahead and arrest her now."

"Thank you very much, sir!" The police entered the building and Rocket guided them to where he had landed. But when they got there, the twin-headed villain was gone! All they found was a strange scrap of paper.

"Dear people of Switzerland," it read, "I have thoroughly enjoyed robbing you left and right. It's been real, and it's been fun, but it hasn't been real fun. All the money is in the upper left desk drawer. As for Mr. Hotshot super whose name I didn't catch, I'll see you stateside! XX P. P."

Rocket was livid. He couldn't believe that Princess Polymer got away!

"Python to Rocket, come in, over?"

After hanging from the bars for what seemed like hours, she gets off scot-free? In what universe was that fair?

"Rocket, come in, do you read me?"

He had half a mind to hang up his suit and get out of the hero game altogether. Then again, why should he expect a villain to play by the rules?

"Rocket! Are you okay? Come in, please!"

And where the hell is that voice coming from? Oh, right…

"Sorry about that, this is Rocket, go ahead."

"Hey, I was just checking in to see how you were doing."

Rocket told his sister everything.

"She got away? Bummer."

"I know."

"Hey, you did your best, that's all anyone can ask. You'll get her next time."

"Assuming there is a next time."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. So, how'd you fare?"

Violet told her brother everything.

"COOL! Can't wait to see it!"

"You think we should check on the others?"

"Nah, they might be in the heat of battle already."

(A/N: Sorry this chapter is so long. Interesting story about Princess Polymer, I actually developed her a long time ago, as a good guy. Unfortunately I couldn't find a place to use her, until now. I like her a lot, so I let her get away, in case I want to use her again. So, how's the story so far? Please tell me how I'm doing, so I can make it better.)


	11. Blind Tracy v Five Alarm Jim

Dateline: Sunday, July 5, 1981, 7:37 PM, Parisian Standard Time.

Ashley couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. She was given an assignment where she wasn't expected to do much of anything. They said they needed her because her powers were mental. But she knew the truth; they were giving her an easy job because she was blind.

Not that Ashley wanted a difficult job, per se, but she was a little upset that she was being treated differently form her teammates because of her disability. She was no different than they were, right? Her blindness didn't make her a less powerful superhero, did it? She couldn't disagree with the fact that she would be more powerful if she could see, but did that really matter?

"Good luck, ma'am," said the chopper pilot as Ashley stepped out. She could hear the whirlybird lifting off the ground and flying away.

"Wait, how am I supposed to get down from here? Don't leave me here all by myself!" But he was long gone. Ashley was petrified. "Mommy!" she screamed in a childlike impulse. Then she started to hyperventilate.

"Erschrecken Sie nicht, Fraulein. Ich werde sich helfen!" (Translation: Don't panic, Miss. I'm here to help!)

But hearing a strange German voice only made her panic more. "Who's there? What do you want?"

"Es tut mir lied, dass ich keine Englisch sprecke." (Translation: I'm sorry that I don't speak any English.)

_Oh, perfect! _Ashley thought. _The only person who can help me out probably doesn't even speak any English!_

"Wunderbar! Das verstage ich!" (Translation: Wonderful! I understood that!)

"Um, I don't speak English, whoever you are!"

Silence. A horrible, frightening silence. Then…

_Can you understand me now?_

_That's weird. I can hear this guy thinking in English, but when he speaks, all I hear is German._

_It seems that you can hear my thoughts in English, while I hear yours in German._

_Are you a telepath too?_

_No, you're just thinking outloud._

_Oh…_

_My name is Holger, and I was sent by the ELS to help you out, Miss Cohen._

After a quick scan of his brain waves, Ashley decided it was okay to trust him.

_Okay, first things first,_ he thought-spoke to her, _let's get you into that super suit._

After suiting up and climbing down the stairs, Holger escorted Blind Tracy to the site where Five-Alarm Jim was causing a scene.

_Um, Holger, could you remind me why I was selected to vanquish Fiver Jim?_

_Munich police couldn't reason with him, because he can't speak, and they couldn't subdue him with brute force because his powers are too strong. They're hoping you'll be able to attack him mentally._

_Okay, so I'll go in there, read his mind, see why he's doing what he's doing, and then we can root out the problem, is that it?_

_Sounds like a plan to me._

_Okay, here I go…_

_Miss Cohen, you're not moving._

_Give me a push,_ Blind Tracy thought-spoke weakly.

Holger placed both hands on her back and started walking. Still a little nervous, Blind Tracy entered the not-yet-burning-but-probably-about-to-get-that-way building where the fire-starter maniac was.

From what she could hear, there were many people inside the building. She formed a makeshift megaphone from her hands and shouted, "Attention people of Munich! I am Blind Tracy, and I am here to negotiate with the pyromaniac!"

_Who is this new super?_ Thought the group as a whole, _and why doesn't she speak German?_

"Oops." Blind Tracy reiterated herself in thought-speech so they could understand her.

_Oh, woe is we! The only one who can save us can't even see!_

_Hmm, tough crowd. All right, which one of you is Fiver Jim?_

_Yes, _someone thought,_ she'll never find out that it's me, because I can't speak! And even if someone gives me away, I can sneak away from her!_

_Unless she can read your mind and deduce who you are by your thought waves, right? Surrender Fiver Jim._

When he realized that he was found out, he panicked. Quickly, he shot a wall of flames right at the fiery redhead. Blind Tracy knew this was coming, and she could feel the heat bearing down on her. The only thing she could think of to do was to use her telekinesis to divert the fire. She tried her best, concentrating on returning the attack to its source. Although she couldn't see it, Blind Tracy could feel the nearby temperature falling, and she assumed that the fire was sailing back toward Fiver Jim. He screamed like a little girl, and understandably too. Using his power, he managed to snuff the flames.

_What the hell was that for?_ he wondered, _are you trying to kill me?_

_No,_ Blind Tracy thought-spoke; _I'm trying to protect the public. Now, please tell me, why are you doing this?_

Fiver Jim wouldn't say. Instead, he shot a fireball right at her. She could have diverted it again if she wanted to, but she just didn't think that far ahead. She ended up dodging the flame, allowing it to burn a hole in the wall.

_All right, wise guy,_ she thought to herself, _if you're not going to tell me, I'm going to drag it out of you!_ Blind Tracy focused all of her psychic energy on Fiver Jim's brain, hoping to root out the cause of this guy's rage. Well, she found a lot of rage, but no cause. And the worst part was, she was so caught up in reading her enemy's mind that she didn't notice another fiery assault coming until it had already hit her!

"YAHHHHHHHH! Hot, hot, hot, hot!" she screamed. Thanks to E's engineering, her body wasn't on fire. However, her hair sure was. She started running around like a maniac. Then she remembered the whole stop, drop, and roll schtick that she had heard a thousand times since she was two. Blind Tracy lied down on the ground and started to roll…until she bumped into something. "Ouch!" After that, she continued to roll until she felt the flames disappear. Blind Tracy ran her fingers through her hair to make sure there was not too much damage.

Dejected, she got back up. This time, she had a plan. She would use her telekinesis to form a pseudo-force field around herself while she picked Fiver Jim's brain. While the enraged fire starter hurled blaze after blaze (only to see each one deflected into the walls), Blind Tracy, that fabulous mind reader, managed to find the source of his aggression.

As it turned out, Fiver Jim thought that the whole world hated him, on account of he didn't know how to speak, and also because of his firepower. (No pun intended.) Blind Tracy promised him that if he stopped burning down buildings, she would find someone who might help him with the former of the two. After seeing that his powers were ineffectual against her, he agreed.

She escorted the reluctant pyro out of the building. While the fire department put out the now towering inferno, the police were planning to arrest Fiver Jim. But Blind Tracy managed to intercede on his behalf.

_So, _she thought to them all, _Mr. Five-Alarm here isn't evil, he's just misguided._

The police assured Blind Tracy that everything would be taken care of. After that, she ducked into a nearby phone booth to dress out.

"Well, that was quite a hot time," she said outloud, "but now that I have that out of the way, I can enjoy being in Munich. I wonder what the others are doing?"

Just as soon as she said that, she heard Vi and Dash talking over the radio, swapping stories.

"You think we should check on the others?" asked Violet.

"Nah, they might be in the heat of battle already," said Dash.

"Or they might be finished with their assignment, huh?"

"Ashley?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, it's your mother, of course it's me!"

"Now, there's no need to be snippy!" said Violet, always acting like she was Ashley's mother. "So, you're finished? How'd it go?"

Ashley told her.

"Whoa! The bad guy actually set you on fire?"

"Just my hair, and I don't think there was too much damage."

"How could you tell for sure?"

"I couldn't, okay? Give a blind girl a break! Anyway, I heard you guys talking about your missions. I couldn't help but feel that I got the easy job."

"So what? Any other super would be grateful that they got an easy one!"

"You don't think I'm the weakest link in this chain, do you?"

"Ashley, please don't bring this up!" Violet said, "Not now! Not while we're away from home, please?"

"Sorry, Mom. Stateside?"

"Yes. So, do you guys know what José is up to?"

"No, he hasn't called in yet."

"At the rate we're going," Ashley said, "I wouldn't be surprised if he was listening to us right now."

(A/N: I have to thank macro2050. It was his private message to me that made this chapter what it is. I admit, my work isn't always great, so I depend on honest souls like him to show me when I'm slipping. So thank you, macro2050, for saving me from myself. Anyway, please review, and stick around for the next chapter.)


	12. Heartthrob v Tomcat

Dateline: Sunday, July 5, 1981, 7:39 PM, Parisian Standard Time.

José could hardly wait. He hadn't had a solo mission since he joined Alpha Force. It was nice to take down a villain without any help. It gave him a sense of accomplishment, a real ego boost. Of course, his parents had always taught him not to count his chickens before they hatch.

Still, full of pride and full of himself, José leapt from the whirlybird before it even landed. Not exactly a bright idea, because they weren't even Barcelona yet. José landed in the middle of the ocean. He was so humiliated. Luckily, the chopper had a rope ladder he could use to pull himself out of the drink. Wiser for the wear, José stayed put until the chopper landed on one of the city's many factories. The pilot wished him luck as he disembarked, for real this time.

_All right,_ he thought to himself, _the key here is to blend in. I am just a regular guy, putting in an honest day's work._ He climbed down the stairs and entered the factory. He calmly strode through the rank and file, saying "hola" to a few of them, all the while looking for the restroom. José didn't want to ask where it was, afraid that doing so would expose him. He finally found it, ducked inside, and dressed out.

Now, he had another problem, how was he going to get out without anyone noticing him? Hmm, Rocket always bragged about how he avoided the press by zooming past them faster than they could spot him. Heartthrob had super-speed too, so why shouldn't he try it? A few jumping jacks was all it took to get his heart up to speed, and he was out of there like greased lightning.

Once on the street, he began looking for Tomcat. Thanks to his super-vision, he could see for miles…if there weren't so many freaking buildings in the way. Heartthrob had to look down sixteen streets before he found his feline target. Once he did, he used his super-strong legs to reach him in a single bound. But I should mention that super-balance was not one of Heartthrob's powers. Inasmuch, when he landed, he took the brunt of the fall on his face.

Tomcat chuckled at the sight. "I sure hope," he said _en Español,_ "that you're not thinking of stopping me. I wouldn't want to be held responsible for the death of a mental patient." Heartthrob looked up at his opponent. He could see that he had two cat's ears on the top of his head, a T-shaped nose, whiskers growing out of face, sharp claws on both hands, and a sniper's gun. When he got to his feet, he also noticed Tomcat's twitching tail.

"Let me assure you," said Heartthrob, "that I am the real deal."

"Whatever, sweetie," he mumbled. Tomcat turned away from the Mexican, pulled his gun back up, and looked through the scope. Heartthrob, with his telescopic vision, could see that Tomcat had the mayor of Barcelona in his crosshairs.

After the previous exchange, Heartthrob could see he wasn't going to get his fight by mere words. So he snatched the gun out of the villain's hands, tied the barrel in a square knot, and handed it back to him.

"Now do you believe I'm really a super?" he asked.

Tomcat threw down the now useless weapon. "You want to fight with the Tomcat? You got it!" He swiped his left claw at him (cats are usually left-handed), but Heartthrob blocked. The cat grabbed the hero's wrist and pulled it to his mouth. He was just about to bite when Heartthrob phased his hand out of his enemy's grasp.

The cat hissed. "So, you're strong, and you can pass through solid objects? You may turn out to be more of a challenge than I thought! No matter, I'll still kill you, somehow!" Tomcat bounded away, but Heartthrob gave chase at Rocket-like speed. Tomcat's eyes widened when he saw the Mexican running alongside him.

"How many powers do you have?"

"Enough," Heartthrob responded.

Tomcat had an idea. He stopped running suddenly, expect his opponent to not notice what was going on and just keep running. But Heartthrob…didn't notice what was going on and just kept running. What did you expect?

"Oh, perfect," he mumbled when he saw that he had been outmaneuvered. Now he had to find him again.

Little did he know that his adversary had found him first. Tomcat had bounded to the roof of one of the buildings, then pounced his way to where Heartthrob was. Then, certain there was no way he could lose, he jumped off the building to land on our hero. Tomcat was so sure of his victory, in fact, that he impulsively let out a sharp "Rowr!"

But that feline noise gave him away. Heartthrob looked up just in time to do something about this attack. He threw up his hands, wanting to throw Tomcat as soon as he landed. As the weight of the villain's body pressed on him, he focused every fiber of his strength on pitching him far and wide. Just when it looked like then end, the great cat went flying, but not before leaving his painful trademark on Heartthrob's arms.

Our hero winced in pain, then looked up to see that Tomcat had landed on his feet. He had a look in his eye that would make one think he was going to charge again. As a matter of fact, he did. Heartthrob saw this, and reacted just in time. He leapt into the air and did a somersault, so that he would be directly over Tomcat's charging mass. Then he kicked him in the back as hard as he could. Tomcat stumbled, and fell face first into the dirt.

But remember what I said about Heartthrob's balance? Yeah, he kept flipping end over end until he too hit the ground…hard. After he hit, he moaned in agony. He got up, aching in every cubic centimeter of his body. He saw Tomcat struggling to get up, but not succeeding.

"Ohhhh!" he moaned. "I have underestimated you, sir. You managed to find a weakness in my feline power. All the supers of Spain couldn't do that. You have my respect."

"Thank you, that means a lot to me," Heartthrob lied. "Now you just stay here while I get the police."

After Tomcat had been taken away, José dressed out and began to examine the scratches on his arms. They still stung a little, but he knew they would heal in time. About that time he heard the voices of his teammates crackling on his radio.

"At the rate we're going," Ashley said, "I wouldn't be surprised if he was listening to us right now."

José laughed. "Chalk one up for our psychic friend!"

Everyone laughed.

"Oh, Vi, I heard you talking about your new acquisition."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"How did you convince the French to let you keep it? Isn't it evidence?"

"That's the funny thing, they insisted I take Monsieur Mincemeat's sword. I didn't want to at first, but now I think I kinda like it. So, honey bunch, how'd you fare?"

José spilled his guts.

"Ouch!" said Dash. "So far, none of us have completed their mission without an injury."

"I'll bet your wife will come through without a scrape," said José. "There are few thing on Earth that can hurt Liquegirl."

(A/N: Hey, listen, sorry I haven't been updating as often, but I've been kinda swamped with schoolwork and stuff. I am going to finish this story, I promise. I hope you all stick around, because this story's just getting started! Until next time…)


	13. Liquegirl v Auntie Arctica

Dateline: Sunday, July 5, 1981, 7:35 PM, Parisian Standard Time.

Kimberly's nerves were more frayed than a broom's bristles. She didn't have the confidence in her powers that other superheroes had. Then again, I don't suppose one can develop much confidence in one's abilities when one's parents think that their child is a freak of nature, now, can one? And no, I'm not referring to one of her brothers or sisters, because Kim is an only child. But I'm getting off topic.

"Well, here we are," said the pilot, "Venice, Italy. It might look beautiful this time of year, if not for the slight problem."

Alas, today Venice looked like a giant skating rink. Kim figured that with all this ice around, not only would all normal activity cease, but also the buildings might crumble under the tremendous pressure. While she thought about all the terrible things that might happen afterwards, the pilot was saying something. She didn't know what it was, not paying attention and all, but what he said was this…

"Um, I can't seem to find a spot to land, Missus Parr, so it looks like you're going to have to jump!"  
At the word "jump," Kim snapped back to reality. "What? Are you completely nuts? I can't jump from here!"

"Relax, You can use the parachute!" He set the copter on autopilot and fumbled around in the cockpit. "Uh, oh," he mumbled.

"What? What 'Uh, oh'?"

"I can't seem to find the parachute!"

"Perfect."

"No problem, you can still jump out, you'll be fine!"

"Fine?" Kim screeched. "You expect me to jump out of a helicopter, land on solid ice, and walk away without a scratch?"

"Well, yes, aren't you Liquegirl?"

Kim wished she could disappear, like her sister-in-law. It was humiliating to forget your own super powers. Ashamed, she grabbed her suit and dived out of the cockpit. While in free fall, she screamed, not because she was scared of the coming hit, but because she was angry at forgetting who she was. And she was scared of the coming hit, of course, I mean, wouldn't you be?

Anyway, she landed on one of the frozen canals, right in the center of town. As you might expect, when she landed on the ice, her body spattered all over the place. While it didn't hurt per se, it was very uncomfortable, like being drenched in ice cold water, only in reverse, that kind of thing. Kim realized she had to pull her body back into solid form before she froze where she was. But it was no easy task to chase after her lost body parts. Somehow, she managed to pull it off.

Now, like her comrades in other nations, Kim's plan was to find a place to dress out, then combat her assigned villain. However, it didn't go exactly this way, because Auntie Arctica, the villain in question, had found her first. Arctica was quite tall, with white hair and very pale skin.

"Well," she said in a frighteningly deep voice, "that's some trick you've got, missy! So, are you Frozone's new sidekick? He is coming to stop me, isn't he?"

"Frozone retired six years ago," Kim explained, "and you should have done the same! I'm part of a new age of supers. I'm LIQUEGIRL!" She struck a heroic pose on that last word.

"You don't look like much of a super," Auntie Arctica pointed out. "Where's your suit?"

Kim looked down. She just now noticed she was still in plain clothes. Embarrassed, she ducked behind a building to change. It wasn't easy, with the ice being as slippery as it is. She reemerged later. "As I was saying, I'm LIQUEGIRL!" she repeated, striking the same heroic pose.

"Much better," Arctica jeered, "but I'm afraid it's too little, too late! As you can see, I've already frozen the canals of Venice, which is the only route of transportation therein. Now that…" Though she was still a rookie superhero, Liquegirl could tell the best time to strike was now. However, the slippery surface under her feet had other plans for her.

"Thought you'd get me in the middle of my speech, did you?" said Arctica when she saw Liquegirl fall flat on her face. She struggled to get back up to her feet, but as soon as she did, Arctica fired an icy cold blast at her. Her liquid body froze only in the abdomen where she was hit, but besides that, the ice beam had pushed her backwards. She slid down the canal until she rammed up against a low bridge.

"Oof!"

Liquegirl examined her bizarre injury. Her belly was like solid ice. She tried to make it melt back herself, but it wouldn't go.

"Okay," she told herself, "don't panic. Your stomach has just been frozen solid, that's all, no big deal." And then she remembered something her then fiancée had told her. "How can I use this to my advantage?" She looked at the bridge she just ran into, and got an idea.

Liquegirl lay down on the ice and pulled herself up next to the bridge. She planted her feet against the structure, preparing to shove off. As soon as she did, she rolled over onto her frozen stomach, to reduce friction. Her plan was to make herself into a human torpedo, to knock Auntie Arctica off her feet. When she found herself losing velocity, she sped up by pulling herself along like her super idol Elastigirl. (You can figure out what that looks like for yourself.)

As soon as she spotted her target, she brought her head down and her arms in to become more aerodynamic. Unfortunately, in this position, she was unable to see Auntie Arctica. It didn't matter, because Auntie Arctica couldn't see her anyway.

**_POW!_**

Now, I myself have never had a middle-aged woman fall on top of me, but I imagine it must not be very pleasant. On the bright side, the tremendous pressure applied to Liquegirl's body seemed to have melted her frozen stomach to its usual viscosity.

"Ow!" In a fit of rage, Arctica got up. She fired another cold snap at the fluid female, but she saw it coming and dodged it. Liquegirl got to her feet and assumed a fighting stance. She dodged a few more ice beams, then gave Arctica a swift kick in the stomach. Or rather, she tried to, because Arctica grabbed her foot and flipped her like a quarter.

From the ground, Liquegirl saw another freeze beam coming at her. She tried to avoid it, but it caught her right hand, freezing it into a fist. This upset her quite a bit. So much so, it fact, that she got up and did something rash and stupid. She charged at Auntie Arctica with her ice-fist raised, planning to punch her lights out. But Arctica moved out of the way, and while she passed, she froze her feet and ankles too. Liquegirl fell one more.

"What's the matter, Alpha Forcer? Cold feet?" Arctica laughed at her own stupid joke. Liquegirl was dejected, but she still held out one last glimmer of hope that she might do something wonderful to win.

"You're pathetic, you realize that?" said Arctica. "But I shouldn't expect anything less. After all, you're no Frozone. Ah, Frozone, now there was a super hero…" She was monologuing again. Excellent! Now she had time to formulate a plan. She was a genius; she should be able to think of something. So why was nothing coming? Ugh, this was so frustrating! She pounded her still frozen fist against the ice. Surprisingly, she punched a hole in it. She looked back at her ice fist. There was no pain! At these cold temperatures, her frozen body must be invulnerable! Now she knew what she had to do!

"Well, I suppose that's enough gibber-gabber," said Auntie Arctica. "Do you have any last words before I send you to the deep freeze?"

Liquegirl got up. "No, but I do have a last request. Would you mind showing me the back of your head?"

Arctica laughed. "With your feet encased in ice, I shouldn't fear you running away. So, feast your eyes on this!" She turned her back on Liquegirl and pulled her hair up.

"Oh, my, that's pretty nice," said Liquegirl, right before she delivered a devastating right jab in the back of her skull. Arctica went down so hard, that she cracked the ice when she hit.

"I hate comedy fights," she mumbled before she drifted off to La-La Land.

"Well, that takes care of that," Liquegirl said. "Now, all that's left to do is wait for the hot Italian sun to melt all this ice. Speaking of melting…" She looked at her still frozen hand and feet. "Where's a nice sauna when you need one?" Just then, she heard the voices of her teammates over her radio. She didn't want to interrupt their conversations, so she just listened.

"I'll bet your wife will come through without a scrape," said José. "There are few thing on Earth that can hurt Liquegirl."

With her hand frozen into a fist, it wasn't easy to push the talk button on her radio, but she did it. "Define 'hurt'," she said.

The whole team greeted her warmly. Ironic, isn't it?

"So, how'd you do?" asked Violet. Kimberly told her.

"Wow!" said Dash in surprise. "So, it's like your powers change at such low temperatures, like you become a new superhero!"

"Perhaps," said Kim, "but I'm getting quite tried of being so cold!"

"Well," said Ashley, "it looks like we did it! Mission accomplished!"

"Right on!" said José. "So when do we go home?"

"I suppose we could stay here for just one day longer, you know, so we can heal, sightsee, enjoy Europe," said Violet, "But the day after that, we should be on the first flight back to California."

"Roger that," said everyone.

"Okay then, Python out."

"Rocket out.

"Blind Tracy out."

"Heartthrob out."

"Liquegirl out."

(A/N: Whew! Nice exciting time, huh? Well, don't get too comfortable, because I'm just getting started! This little trip across the pond is still part of the introduction! The real story begins when the team gets back home! Until next time, please review!)


	14. After the fights

Dateline: Sunday, July 5, 1981, 10:27 PM, Parisian Standard Time.

Violet couldn't sleep that night. The dream she had on the plane still haunted her slightly. She just couldn't shake that image from her head. The image of herself hissing like an evil serpent had burned itself on the back of her eyelids. Violet was in desperate need of comforting. She wanted to talk to someone. Oddly, the first person who came to mind was Ashley.

She reached for her watch, then thought she'd better not bug the others with this. After some complex phone tag, she managed to get a number where she could reach her psychic friend. Violet trusted Ashley in a strange way. She had only known her for a few months, and yet she felt closer to her than she ever did to her brother Dash.

"Ashley?"

"Who's this?"

"It's Violet. Did I wake you?"

"Sort of. I wasn't asleep, but I was getting that way."

"I'm sorry. I couldn't sleep, I was still thinking about that dream I had on the plane."

"Well, then don't think about it!"

"I wish it were that easy, Ash."

"It IS that easy, boss!"

Violet moaned. "You're just saying that so I'll hang up and you can go back to sleep, aren't you?"

"Partly, yes."

"I just need to talk to someone. I'm so lonely here."

Ashley sighed. "Okay, I'll stay on the line. So, how's France?"

"It's beautiful, just like I always thought it would be."

"You don't sound like you're enjoying yourself over there," Ashley observed.

"Well, I just got word that the mayor of Nice is presenting me with a medal for my 'extraordinary valor against such a vile villain.'"

"Hey, me too! Why aren't you more excited about it?"

"Because I've gotten quite a few of these before. It was fun and exciting the first time, but the eighth time it's just irritating. Get the picture?"

"Yeah, I think I understand."

"So, how's Germany?"

"It's…uh…German…to say the least."

Violet chuckled. "You never cease to amaze me, Ashley. One of these days, I'm going to have to adopt you as my daughter."

"You keep saying that, but you never do it," said Ashley.

"Well, I don't know if I could, what with us being the ages we are. You're almost an adult, and I'm only barely legal. But I promise, one way or another, you and I are going to be relatives."

Ashley stifled a laugh.

"I'm serious, Ash."

"Yeah, I know."

"So why are you laughing?"

"I was just thinking of another way." _Oops. _Ashley bit her tongue when she realized what she had said.

"What's that?"

"I shouldn't say."

"Oh, come on, you can tell me! What were you thinking of?"

"No, I really can't say, I promised someone!"

"Who'd you promise?"

"José. No, wait, d'oh!"

"Why'd you promise him you wouldn't say? Does it have something to do with him?"

"NO!"

"Oh my God, you were thinking of marrying him, weren't you?"

"No, I wasn't thinking about your boyfriend, I was thinking about your brother!" _Oh my God, how did she drag that out of me?_

"What? What did you say?"

Ashley sighed heavily. "I said I'm crushing on your brother, Violet."

"But why? He's happily married."

"For now."

Violet was surprised at what Ashley just said. "Ashley, you're not going to…?"

"No, of course not, don't be stupid!"

"Wow. I never would have thought of that. I mean, you were always picking on him." Silence. "Ohhhhh, now I get it."

"Yeah. Listen, you can't tell Kim. If she found out about this, she'd get pretty upset, and who knows whom she'll take it out on? And you can't tell Dash either, okay?"

"Okay, but you should tell him."

"Huh?"

"It's not healthy to keep your emotions bottled up like that. You should tell him how you feel about him, so that he can let you down easy and you can get over him."

"What makes you so sure he'll say 'no'?"

Violet rolled her eyes. "He's married, Ashley! Use that amazing brain God gave you for something other than gossip!"

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Thanks for talking to me, Ashley. I think I might be able to sleep now."

"Glad I could help. And thank you, too."

"Good night."

"Night, boss."

While this was going on, Dash was having a minor case of insomnia as well. Now that he was married, he wanted to enjoy the benefits of marriage. Plus, he just liked spending time with Kim. She made him feel comfortable, like a warm blanket. A blanket that could think circles around him, but a warm one, nonetheless.

Determined to see the enchanting face of his bride at least once more before returning to California, Dash left his hotel room and hit the street. He was looking for a map, so he could plot a course for Venice. His plan was to sprint there and surprise Kim. He managed to get a glimpse of a map of Europe. There, he learned that Venice was slightly southeast of Zurich, where he was. Then, using the North Star as a guide, he found the direction in which he would have to run. Then off he went.

(You have to hand it to Dash. He did more thinking in those ten minutes than he ever did in his entire life.)

Anyway, when he got to Venice, about fifteen minutes after he left, he was faced with another problem. He had no idea where Kim was. He thought about calling back home and asking the sheriff to trace her, but he decided against it. For all he knew, he could have been calling at three AM. He just started asking around, but it was hard to find someone who spoke English. So hard, in fact, that he did not succeed.

On one of the cities many bridges, Dash dropped to his knees. He was losing his mind, and the sound of icebreakers in the distance only made it worse. He felt like he came a long way for nothing. All he wanted was to see Kim. That girl over there even looks like Kim. Wait a minute…

"Kim? Honey, is that you?"

"Dash?"

"KIM!"  
"DASH!"

He ran to his bride at his normal speed and almost bowled her over. Wait, what do I mean 'almost'?

"Ow! Hey! Watch were you're rushing, Bullethead!"

"Sorry."

"Oh, I can't stay mad at you, Dash. So what the heck are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to spend some time with you. After all, this is supposed to be our honeymoon, right?"

"I suppose so."

"I see that Venice is still mostly on ice."

Kim sighed. "Unfortunately. But at least I got rid of the problem. The Italians gave me something in gratitude, and I was hoping I could share it with you."

"Hmm, sounds good to me, what is it?"

"Come with me, and I'll show you," Kim said with a wink.

(A/N: I think I'll stop here for now. Oh man, writer's block is starting to set it, I can feel it! I have to stop, now. Don't worry, I'll get back to the written word ASAP. In the meantime, talk to me!)


	15. The Medal Ceremony and other stuff

Dateline: Monday, July 6, 1981, 7:19 AM, Parisian Standard Time.

Violet was so lonely last night, that she didn't even notice her new battle injuries. But when she woke up that morning, she was sore as a stubbed toe all over. There were a few minor pains in her feet, her abdomen, and her skull. But the biggest pain was just under her right armpit. It felt like something important had been torn inside her.

Wondering if this could be a major problem, Violet tried to do a few basic things with her right hand. She found she could open and close her fist, point with one finger, give a thumbs-up, do "hook 'em horns", and even flash an obscene…wait, never mind. But when she tried to make a force field, nothing happened. She tried multiple times, all to the same effect. Violet tried to make a force field with her left hand, and she found that she could. It was just her right hand that didn't work.

"Oh, this is good," she said to nobody. "This is just what I needed right now! Well, whatever's wrong with me, I'm sure Dr. Gibson can fix it. I just hope I won't need surgery. Who am I talking too?"

There was a knock on her hotel room door. "Miss Python," said a French official, "Your car is ready for you."

"I'll be right there, just a sec," she responded. "Well, let's get this medal crap over with."

Meanwhile, in Venice, Dash and Kim were waking up after one terrible night.

"Whoa!" said Dash. "Major hangover! I think I had too much to drink last night!"

"Dash, you didn't even have half a glass of grape juice," Kim observed.

"Yeah, that's too much for me."

Kim just looked at him in disbelief.

"I'm a man who just can't hold his liquor, dear!"

"Liquor?" She ran to the other side of the room and picked up the bottle. When she read the label, she gasped in horror. "Oh my God! This wasn't fancy grape juice, this was red wine! And I drank the whole thing! No, wait, there's still some left!" She tipped the bottle up and guzzled the rest of it down. After double-checking to make sure it was empty, she gasped in horror again. "I can't believe I drank the whole thing!"

"Wow," Dash said. "Do you remember anything you did last night?"

"Yeah, everything! I remember watching three hours of TV after you passed out. And before that, I remember you soaking my fist and my feet in hot water."

"Hmm. Maybe we should start calling you Liquorgirl, huh?"

Kim laughed sheepishly.

Dash looked at his watch. "Oh, man, I gotta get back to Switzerland! They'll be expecting me to receive that medal!"

"Oh, well. Hey, thanks for helping me de-ice my hand and feet, dear."

"No problem, I love you, miss you already, bye-bye!" And he took off like the Roadrunner.

As soon as he was gone, Kim looked at the bottle of wine again. "This was good wine," she mused. "I wish I knew where to find this stuff stateside."

Back in France, Violet was riding in a limousine to Town Square. She was sick and tired of all the pomp and ceremony that goes into getting a medal. She especially didn't like having to wear her super suit when she wasn't exactly using it. In her annoyance, she began to daydream. She began to think about her life before Alpha Force was formed. Her mind wandered to a certain date in May 1980.

(FLASHBACK ALERT.)

Violet and Tony were enjoying a dinner of pasta Alfredo in the apartment they shared. It was rare when Tony cooked their dinner, but tonight was a special occasion. For the first time in a long time, they could sit down and enjoy each other's company without any interruptions. It was important to Tony, anyway, because it marked the anniversary of their first date. Violet wouldn't have known that if her life depended on it. Ironically, her love life would depend on it, this very night.

"This is nice, isn't it?" said Tony. "Just the two of us. No annoying family members, no unwanted interruptions, nice romantic lighting…" He pointed out the candles.

"Yeah, honey, it's great. I only hope it's not a ploy to get me into bed, because then you would have done all this for nothing."

"C'mon, Vi, You know be better than that. I know you're not interested in pre-marital sex. You made that very clear to me on my birthday…and on Valentine's Day…and at Thanksgiving…at on…"

"Okay, Tony," Violet interrupted, "I get it. You're killing the mood."

"Sorry. So, how was your first day at a civilian job?"

"Tolerable, to say the least. My supervisor, Mr. Black, is such a dimwit! He actually believes that this new promotion idea of his is good!"

"Well, maybe it is!" Tony suggested. "How bad could it be?"

"The Guess-Your-Weight Sale?"

Tony snorted on his noodles. "Okay, yeah, that is pretty bad!"

"I know! Anyway, I told him what I thought, and do you know what he said? He told me to…" She never finished. At that exact moment, her radio-watch went off, signaling trouble on the horizon. "Listen, I gotta run…"

"Oh, come on, Vi!" Tony pleaded. "Stay here, finish your food, spend some time with your boyfriend, maybe?"

"Tony, I can't. I have to go out there and save the world, it's my duty! We've been over this before!"

"Can't you let some other superhero handle this one?"

"Tony, what's the big deal? It's just dinner!"

Tony said nothing. Violet took that as a sign to mean that he understood, so she went off to protect mankind. While she was out doing that, Tony cleaned up the table.

(END OF FLASHBACK ALERT. RESUME NORMAL CONTINUITY.)

"Miss Python? Miss Python?" The snapping fingers of the Frenchman snapped Violet out of her dream world.

"Hmm, what? Oh, right, the medal, sorry."

She stepped out onto the red carpet and stood still for a moment. Practically all of Nice had come out to greet her. The flashbulbs of two thousand cameras almost blinded her. She stuck out her hand to shield her eyes.

"No more pictures!" someone shouted. All at once, they stopped. Violet was somewhat glad of that.

"The Sword! The Sword!" screamed someone else. The crowd roared in agreement. Violet went back to the car and got Venom, to show it off.

_I have to get some kind of sheath or something for this thing, _she thought to herself. _This could kill somebody._

As Violet walked up to the podium where the mayor of Nice (or that's what she thought he was) was standing, she took the time to sign a few autographs, shake a few hands, kiss a baby or two, you know, schmooze. When you're a big celebrity like that, it's kind of obligatory to do so. But, I'm getting off topic again.

Anyway, Violet got to the stand and the mayor made a little speech, you know, about Violet's bravery and the vast importance of her victory yesterday, yadda yadda yadda, "I am pleased to present her with the Green Cross!" Violet stood up and shook the mayor's hand. As she did, she felt something prick her on the heel of her hand. Violet looked back at it, and didn't see anything, so she shrugged it off. She accepted her medal, then took her place behind the lectern. She spoke a few profound words, you know, what an honor this is, I was just doing my job, there's a little hero inside each of you, blah blah blah, "Vive la France!" And that was basically it.

Back in the limo, she got on her radio watch and called the rest of the team with the news…

"We fly back home tomorrow."

(A/N: Sorry this chapter was so boring. This time, I meant for it to be boring, and I don't plan to change it. You'll see why I had to make this chapter dull…sometime in the future. Until then…you know what to do!)


	16. The Flight Home and other stuff

Dateline: Tuesday, July 7, 1981, 7:22 AM, Greenwich Mean Time.

The team had been chopper-jockeyed from their various cities back to London, so they could fly home as a team. After being alone for quite some time, they were all very excited to see each other once more. Well, almost…

"Oh my God!" Kim screamed when she caught sight of her sightless friend. "Ashley, what happened to your hair?"

"What? What's wrong with my hair?"

"Nothing, it's just almost completely gone!"

Kim was exaggerating. Ashley's flaming red hair had been burned away at the ends, and it did look quite horrible. When Ashley felt it, it felt like straw. Anyone who knows anything about hair would know that it's not supposed to feel like that.

"Is there anything I can do about it?" Ashley asked.

"Tell you what," said Kim, "you can use my special conditioner until it grows back. You need it more than I do."

"Thanks," Ashley responded. "You're a real friend." She held her arms out for an embrace, which Kim took.

"Okay," said Dash, "if my little sister is done hugging my wife, can we please get on the plane now?"

Ashley was slightly disappointed at what Dash just said. _How could he possibly think of me that way? _She realized that it was because he didn't know how she truly felt about him.

Once they were en route back to good ol' California, Violet slipped back into her daydreams, picking up where she left off in France.

(FLASHBACK ALERT.)

She had come home after putting a stop to the mischief of Detour and Roadblock. It was routine stuff for people in her line of work. But when Violet opened the door, she could somehow sense that something was wrong.

"Tony? Honey, are you home?"

"Violet?" he shouted from her bedroom. "Could you please get out of here?"

Violet walked over to the bedroom door. "Listen, if this is about what I said at dinner, I'm sorry I bailed on you. I know it was rude, and I know I hurt your feelings. Can you forgive me?"

"Um…uh…can we talk about this later?"

"Well, why can't we talk about it now?"

"Because…uh…because…we can't, okay?"

"Tony, you're scaring me! What's going on in there?"

Violet opened the bedroom door and saw exactly what was going on. Tony was in her bed, with another woman, naked.

"Oh my God!"

"Vi, baby, it's not what it looks like!"

"Really? Because it looks like you're knocking up some strange whore in my bed!"

"Oh, well, then, yes, it is what it looks like."

Violet turned away in disgust. She couldn't believe it. Tony was cheating on her? How could he? How dare he? After all they had been through?

Tony came out of the room and tried to console his girlfriend. "Violet, dear…"

"Don't you 'Violet, dear' me, you monster!"

"Monster? Is that what I am to you?"

"I don't know who you are, Anthony Rydinger! The man I know was caring and compassionate, not a lecherous ass like you are!"

"Oh, can we dispose of the drama? It's you who's not pulling her own weight in this relationship!"

Violet's jaw dropped. "I don't believe this! You're actually suggesting that this, this atrocity is all my fault?"

Presently the other woman came out. "Um, I'm going to get my clothes and leave now," she said. Nobody took notice of her.

"It is your fault, Violet!" said Tony. "You have no right to be upset, because we weren't even that intimate!"

"Not that intimate? Whose relationship have you been in these past six years? I bared my soul to you, Tony! I told you everything about me, and I do mean 'everything'!" Violet waved an invisible hand in his face for emphasis.

"Maybe, but that's just not going to cut it! You're always abandoning me to go off and save Metroville!"

"It's my duty! We've been over this a thousand times already!"

"But on our anniversary, Vi?"

"Anniversary? What are you talking about?"

"Today is the seventh anniversary of our first date! Don't you remember?"

Violet just started blankly into space. "Why can't I have a normal boyfriend, who forgets obscure dates like that?"

"Well, why can't I have a normal girlfriend, who isn't always running out on me to save the day?"

Violet had put up with a lot of Tony's crap up until now. This time he went too far! "Get out!" she growled. "NOW!"

"But, I live here."

"Not anymore, you don't!"

"I picked this place out!"

"Irrelevant. I'm paying our rent!"

"What about my stuff?"

"I'll ship it to you; now move your cheating hide out my door! Our lame excuse for a relationship is over!"

Tony, still clutching the sheet around his nudity walked out the door. When he realized he wasn't wearing any clothes, he turned back. But Violet was still so upset, that she shoved him out with a force field. And as soon as he landed on his rear, she locked Tony out of her apartment, and out of her life, for the last time.

That night, for the first time in 17 years, Violet cried herself to sleep.

(END OF FLASHBACK ALERT. RESUME NORMAL CONTINUITY.)

Just thinking about it made her cry all over again. But, unlike crying into a pillow, when you cry on an airplane, everybody on the plane hears you.

"This is just pathetic," said Kim. "Why does our leader have to burst into spontaneous bouts of emotion like that?"

"It's not spontaneous," said Dash. "She been this way ever since she broke it off with Tony."

"Who's Tony?" asked José.

Dash told him.

"She told a normal man her secrets, and he turns around and sleeps with another woman?" asked Kim. "What a pig!"

"I know, right?"

José sighed. "Do you think I should talk to her about it?"

"Your choice," mumbled Dash.

José crossed the cabin and sat down next to a sniffling Violet. "Hey, uh, boss. Is there, um, something bothering you?" He had no idea what to say at the time.

"SNIF Oh, it's nothing," Violet lied.

"Well, it must be some fantastic nothing if it's making you burst into tears! You were thinking about your old flame, weren't you?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Dash told me everything. You miss him, don't you?"

"A little. When you're that close to someone, it hurts to lose them."

"But you haven't lost him, have you? You're still friends with Tony, right?"

"No, I haven't spoken to him since the, uh, since the unpleasant event."

"Just because he did one horrible thing to you doesn't make him a complete dirt bag, Violet. He hasn't given away your secret identity, has he?"

Violet shook her head.

"Well, there you go. Clearly, he's not someone you should be romantically involved with, but he's still a trustworthy person, err, to an extent, that is."

Violet sniffled one last time. "You know what, José, you're right. I should call him when we get to California. Thanks."

"Anytime, boss."

Violet coughed slightly. "How many times have I told you not to call me that?"

Eleven hours later, the voice of the pilot came over the intercom.

"Please fasten your seatbelts, we're beginning our decent into Metroville International. Local time is 12:44 PM."

(A/N: Okay, stick around, because the fun part is almost coming! I know these chapters haven't been very exciting, and most of you have stopped reading by now, but this will get interesting, I promise! Until next time…)


	17. A Hero's Welcome? NOT!

Dateline: Tuesday, July 7, 1981, 12:44 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

"You know," said Dash as the team disembarked from the plane, "I think today is our lucky day! We get to eat lunch twice!"

"If," said Ashley, "you can call the meal they served on the plane 'lunch'."

"Oh, I don't know," said Kim, "I rather liked the flavorless breadsticks and cheese-like paste."

Everyone laughed.

"Okay," said Violet, "now where did we park?"

"How am I supposed to know? It was two days ago!"

"Excuse me, sir?" Kim asked the parking attendant. "Can you help us find our car?"

"Sure, no problem. What's it look like?"

Kim described the Alphamobile.

"Wait, are you guys Alpha Force?"

"No, we're civilians. The supers just let us borrow their car for the weekend. What do you think?"

"I'll tell you what I think," he said, and then he proceeded to say many unkind things that I dare not repeat here. Amid all the obscenities, however, he did tell them where their car was.

"Uh, thanks, I guess," said José.

The parking attendant cursed some more before bidding them a not-so-fond farewell.

"What's his problem?" was the question on everyone's mind.

But on the drive home they discovered that he wasn't the only one who harbored unpleasant feelings toward the team of young heroes. They passed by several unruly mobs that, seeing and recognizing their car decided to throw eggs, tomatoes, and a variety of other messy foods at it.

"Good thing we didn't walk," Dash commented.

"Shut up!" was the unified response.

By the time they got back to their house on New York Avenue, the car was an absolute mess. And it didn't exactly smell like a bed of roses either.

"I'm not doing it!" José was quick to say.

"Me either!" said Ashley.

"I just did it last week!" said Violet.

"Don't look at me!" said Kim.

"Or me!" said Dash.

"Well, someone has to clean the car!" said Violet, very aggravated.

"Clean the car," said some strange robotic voice. It sounded like it came from the car. All of a sudden, a side panel in the door opened, and an army of robotic scrubbers came out of it. They covered the car in a rich lather from the roof to the tires before returning to their home.

"Rinse," said the same robotic voice. All at once, mysterious jets sprayed the car with water, causing the lather to disappear. The red SUV underneath was clean as a whistle, albeit a little damp.

"The car is now clean," said the voice.

"Wow," said Kim. "Mirage thought of everything, didn't she?"

"Where was that feature last week?" asked Violet. "I broke a nail scrubbing that thing!"

Inside the house, everyone wondered why all of Metroville had suddenly become anti-Alpha. But Violet, remembering her injury, placed a call to her trusted physician, Superdoc.

"Dr. Gibson? It's Violet, listen, I've got a problem. I can't make force fields with my right hand. How soon can you make an appointment?"

"How's the twelfth of never, you blankety blank blank blankety blank?" Click, dial tone. Violet was stunned at the vocabulary that came from Dr. Gibson's mouth.

"Now Superdoc's against us too? What is this town coming to?"

Luckily, the 1:00 news was able to explain everything.

"…As you can see behind me," said the reporter, "this crowd is burning an effigy of the once-beloved team of supers. They say this is to 'send a message to those super-degenerates, that we don't appreciate their shameful betrayal.'"

"Betrayal?" asked José. "We were only gone for two days, what's the worst that could have happened?"

"The crowd has clearly hung Alpha Force before they were tried. While there is no concrete evidence that Python and the others are indeed guilty, there are prime suspects, and the police are looking for them for questioning. Michael Farm, DBC News, Metroville."

"Well, that explains a lot," said Ashley with melancholy.

"What is it that they think we did?" asked Dash

"Whatever it is, we couldn't have done it!" said Kim. "We were out of the country."

"You're right!" said Violet. "All we have to do is tell the people this, and we're off the hook!"

Just then, there was a loud knock on the door.

"Open up, it's the police!"

Violet opened the door and saw two of Metroville's finest on the threshold. They looked like identical twins.

"We're looking for Python," said one of them.

"Don't you need a warrant to arrest someone?" Ashley blurted from the living room.

The officer pulled out an arrest warrant with Violet's codename on it.

"Okay, I'll come quietly. I know when I'm in over my head."

"No, Miss Parr, you don't understand. We want Python."

Violet just gave them a confused look.

"I think they want you to put on your suit, Vi," whispered Dash.

Violet craned her neck and saw that there were news cameras on the front lawn. Clearly the press were looking for a shot of Python, not her civilian alter ego.

"Hold on one minute, I'll go get her," Violet said with a heavy sigh. A few minutes later, she reemerged in her costume.

"Python," said the other officer, "you're under arrest for the robbery of the Central Bank of Metroville. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you free of charge. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?"

Python said she did. She didn't put up any resistance as they gently placed her in the back of the squad car, complete with handcuffs. The rest of the team looked on dejectedly as the police drove away, with their leader in tow.

"What do we do now?" asked a visibly frightened Ashley

"We rescue Violet, that's what we do!" said Dash. "To the Alphamobile!"

(A/N: Were you surprised? Were you stunned silent? I told you the fun part was coming! Don't worry, everything will make sense in time. And I'll try to insert Futureboy into this story somehow. It's been awhile since I've used him. Until next time…review!)


	18. A Hero in the Slammer

Dateline: Tuesday, July 7, 1981, 1:22 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

Violet hung her head in despair. It never felt good to be accused of a crime you didn't commit. Even though she was wearing her super suit, she felt like a number and not a hero. But on a positive note, she had always wondered what it was like behind bars. Now she knew. She was glad it was just the local lockup at the police station and not real prison. And she took some comfort in having a cellmate. He was huddled in the corner with a blanket draped over him. At first, Violet thought that he was a bean bag chair or something.

"So," she said, desperate to start a conversation, "what are you in for?"

"Oh, nothing," he said, "I'm just waiting for a friend. You?"

"I was accused of robbing a bank, but I'm innocent."

"Ain't that what they all say?"

"Yeah, but I couldn't have done it. I was in France when it happened. But the public doesn't care. They've all turned on me for some reason."

"You wouldn't happen to be one o' them superheroes, would you?" asked the stranger.

"Yeah, I am, why?"

"Then you're the friend I'm waiting for!"

Violet was taken aback. But everything became clear when the man whipped off his blanket and stood up. With the green and tan suit, the black hair, the Dash-like face, that F-B logo, Violet recognized him right away.

"Futureboy!" she wailed. She gripped her time-travelling great nephew in a large bear hug. "So, what are you doing here?"

"I figured you could use some comfort. Oh, and I wanted to give you a message from the future."

"What?"

Futureboy looked nervous. "I can't go into detail, but I can say this. You know Loren Kriznek?"

"What about him?"

"You're going to come into contact with him soon. He's on your side now, so whatever he says, whatever he asks you to believe, believe him!"

"Why? The man tried to kill my brother and me! Why should I trust him?"

"Because he's your only chance. I can't say what will happen if you don't trust him, but I can say that you won't like it. You're just going to have to go with me on this, Aunt Violet."

"Okay, I believe you." But the truth was, Violet was still skeptical. She wasn't even one hundred percent sure he was even her relative. But the way she figured it, if she took this on faith and found out later that he was lying, she could kill him then.

"Oh, hey, you never did tell me your real name," Violet observed.

"I haven't? Huh, I thought for sure I would have. My name is Orlando Cunningham."

"Cunningham? Why not Parr?"

"My mother's maiden name was Parr. She was, no wait, is, no, _will be_ Dash's daughter. She won't have any powers, so don't be surprised by that. Shh, do you hear that?"

It was the sound of footsteps. Futureboy ducked back into the corner, pulling the blanket over him again. Violet poked her head out of her cell as far as it would go and looked at who it was.

"Hey, Orlando, it's okay, it's just the rest of the team."

Sure enough, it was. Orlando came out of hiding and introduced himself to the rest of the team, or as he called them, Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle José and Cousin Ashley. Dash and Kim, who had yet to meet Orlando, were surprised to say the least.

"We came as soon as we saw you get hauled off," said Ashley.

"Then what took you so long?" asked Violet.

"First, we had an argument about who should drive," said Kim. "I wanted to drive, but Dash insisted he was better at it, and…"

"This went on for about a minute or two," Dash continued, "when we realized that you still have the keys. So, we had to…"

"You didn't hot wire the Alphamobile, did you?"

"NO! Of course not! Funny story, true story, um, the car came with an emergency backup voice activated lock system! Yeah, that's it, a voice lock!"

Violet didn't change expressions. "You hot wired the car, didn't you?"

"Yeah, we did."

"Guys!" Violet whined.

"We're sorry, but we had to!" said Ashley. "I don't know what they have against you, but we're going to clear your name, even if it's the last thing we do!"

"Whoa, Ashley," said Kim, "let's take it down a notch, okay? We're just going to have a talk with the sheriff, not bag a cheetah and lug it across Kenya!"

"Although that would be pretty cool," said Dash.

"C'mon, guys, focus," said Violet; "you were saying something about getting me out of here?"

"Oh, yeah, right." And the team departed.

Violet sighed. "I can't believe I'm placing my freedom in the hands of those screw-ups. I'm doomed."

"No, you're not, Aunt Violet," said Futureboy. "You'll get out, and you'll win this, if you remember what I said."

"Huh? Oh, right, believe the Wicked Wichard, got it."

"Great." At that moment the two of them heard a beeping, like a watch's alarm. Violet checked hers, but the signal wasn't flashing. "Oh, it's mine," said Orlando.

He pulled out a futuristic-looking piece of paper (or rather, something paper-like in nature) and groaned. "Sorry, Aunt Vi, but I have to go. You would not believe how many do-gooder chrononauts try to assassinate Hitler every week."

"Wait. Wouldn't Hitler's assassination be a good thing?"

"Theoretically, yes, but that's not my job. My job is to preserve history as you and I know it. So, I have to…"

"Say no more, go save history one evil dictator at a time," Violet joked.

Futureboy laughed. "Thanks for understanding. Hey, I'll see you around, okay? Okay, goodbye."

Orlando placed his hands against the cell wall. Then his whole body started to vibrate. Violet could see him break out in a sweat. His face was flush. Suddenly, sparks of electricity flew from his body. Then there was a burst of flames. Violet jumped back in surprise. When the flames dissipated, Futureboy was gone. If there was any doubt in Violet's mind as to whether or not Orlando was for real, it was gone now.

Of course, the elaborate warp sequence made a lot of noise, which got the attention of the guard.

"All right, what's going on here?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," said Violet.

"Don't give me that, Python." And then he saw that Futureboy wasn't there. "There was a kid in your cell a minute ago. I saw him! Where did he go, and what was that loud noise?"

"Oh, the kid? Yeah, he's my great nephew from the future, and he just went back in time to go prevent Hitler's assassination."

At this, the guard started to laugh. "Good one, Python!" Then he went on about his business.

Violet just smiled. _The best way to lie…_she thought.

(A/N: Okay, just a heads-up, I'm going to be out of the picture for a while. I have a lot of schoolwork I need to do. And I am planning a story all about Futureboy, so be looking for that sometime in the future forgive the pun. So until next time…)


	19. Setting Violet Free

Dateline: Tuesday, July 7, 1981, 1:30 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

While Violet was percolating in her cell, Dash led the rest of the team to the sheriff's office. When they found it, Sheriff Baker was inside, with an open bottle of bourbon on his desk, and crying his eyes out. They were all astonished; it's not natural to see such a large man in such an emotional state.

"Sir," said Dash in a no-nonsense tone of voice, "we believe you have an innocent woman in your custody."

"I know I do," James sobbed, "and I'm so sorry!" Then he started bawling again. He reached for the liquor, but Kim snatched it away from his grasp.

"Isn't it a little early for you to be drinking?" she asked. While the bottle was in her hand, Kim took a little sniff of it. Then she took a little swig herself.

"Don't you start too," said José as he grabbed the booze from Kim and dumped it in the garbage.

"Sir," said Ashley, "if you know that she's innocent, why don't you just let her go?"

"I can't," he answered. "We need solid evidence of her innocence before we can release her."

"We've got solid evidence!" Dash screamed. "Wait, what's she charged with?"

"Armed robbery of the Central Bank of Metroville, on the night of July 6, 1981," said James.

"July 6?" said José. "We were all in Europe that day! There's no way Violet could have done it!"

"I know, but we can't use that as evidence!" Barker moaned.

"Why not?"

"Because the information about your mission is classified; it can't be released to the general public."

"But the mission's over! Why isn't it declassified yet?"

"We can't declassify it until after an official debriefing, and then we have to wait another 48 hours, and by then it will be too late!"

"So there's nothing we can do?"

"Even if the data wasn't classified, it wouldn't refute the tape."

"Whoa!" said Dash. "You have a tape of Violet robbing the bank?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Let's have a look at it. I'll bet there's something wrong with it that will completely exonerate my sister!"

"Hey, Dash," said Ashley, "since when do you know what 'exonerate' means?"

"Shut up!"

The fractured Alpha Force followed the sheriff into the evidence room. There, he cued up the tape from the bank's security camera. Since Ashley couldn't see the tape, Kim had to describe it to her.

They saw someone enter on the left side of the frame. This person looked an awful lot like Violet, but they all knew that it wasn't. They couldn't, however, prove this. The person in the tape was wearing what appeared to be a copy of Violet's super suit, except where the team logo was supposed to be there was a strange symbol they couldn't identify.

As they tape continued, they saw the Violet impersonator pull out a gun and start waving it around. She pulled out a very large bag and handed it to the teller. She stuck the gun in his face, obviously telling him to empty the register. The teller did as he was told. Once she had the cash, the anti-Violet turned invisible and sprinted for the door. When the tape finished, the supers were all agog.

"Wait a minute!" said Dash. "Run the tape back!"

"To where?" asked the sheriff.

"To where the robber turned invisible." James cued up the tape and they saw that part again.

"What is it? Did you see something?" asked José.

"No," Dash said dejectedly. "I thought I did. Whoever this is has a genuine power of invisibility. The only problem is there's only one person on the planet with that power, and that's old short stuff."

"I thought Violet didn't like to be called that, Dash," Ashley pointed out.

"Well, do you see Violet here now? Wait, don't answer that." Dash had forgotten for a moment that she was blind.

"Short stuff?" Kim wondered outloud. "THAT'S IT! Sir, run the tape back to the part where the robber enters the bank."

James did. At the moment when the anti-Violet entered, Kim paused the tape. "See?"

"See what?" asked the men.

"Look right here, on the side of the doorway. What do you see?"

"It's a ruler," said James. "They stick them there so the tellers can see how tall a robber is as he runs for it."

"Precisely! Now, look again. What do you see?"

José squinted to get a better view. "Hmm. This woman is at least six feet tall."

"But Violet is only five foot four!" Dash shouted. "No way that was my sister!"

"Wait!" said Ashley. "Didn't the robber turn invisible? Didn't the robber look just like Violet?"

"Yeah, but the eight inch height difference means that it couldn't possibly be her!"

"And I believe that, but what I want to know is: if the woman in the tape isn't our leader, then who, or what, is it?"

"It's not Violet, but a cheap clone of her, created to destroy her reputation," said a stranger whom the others couldn't see. They whipped around looking for the one who spoke.

"Who are you?" asked James. "Show yourself!"

A blonde man stepped out of the shadows. By the scar over his left eye, Dash recognized him right away.

"The Wicked Wichard!"

"Not anymore, I'm not," he said. "Since I lost my magic, I'm not a wizard, and I'm not so wicked. Call me Loren, okay?"

"Okay, Loren," said Kim, "you've got a lot of explaining to do. You don't have to be a magician to figure out what questions I want answered, so start talking!"

Loren sighed. "Okay, the reason I became a stripper was that it was…"

"No, not that, you idiot! How do you know that the woman in the video is a clone of Violet?"

"Oh, that. My mother made her. I watched her do it."

"But how?"

"She used magic, duh!"

"You mean," said Dash, "your mother is a witch?"

"Yes, and I'll explain everything in full detail later. Right now, shouldn't we be getting Violet out from behind bars?"

"Oh, yeah, right!" The six of them (including Loren) raced back to Violet's cell. Once there, the sheriff opened it up.

"You're free, Vi," said Dash, "all the charges are dropped!"

"Oh, thank you guys," she exulted, but then she caught sight of Loren Kriznek. Then she remembered what Futureboy had told her earlier. "Hello, Loren," she said without emotion.

"Listen, Pyth, er, I mean, Violet, I'm sorry that I tried to kill you and your friends last April. I want to help you guys with what's coming up ahead."

"You're forgiven," Violet said, "but what is coming up ahead?"

"Get comfortable," said Loren, "this is going to be a long story."

(A/N: I think I'd better stop here. I hope this will be the climax of the story, when all the hidden things are laid open for all to see. Everything will make sense soon, or maybe it won't, I'm not sure. Until next time, review!)


	20. The Awful Truth Comes Out

Dateline: Tuesday, July 7, 1981, 2:01 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

"Before I tell you what's going on," Loren said, "you have to accept the fact that my mother is crazy. I mean clinically insane, bonkers, nuts, screwy, completely apesh…"

"Okay," Violet interrupted, "you mother's nuts, and we get it, now what's going on?"

"I'm getting to that! Be patient!" Loren fumed. "So anyway, after Herr Cannon killed my best friend Vox that one day…"

Kim gasped. "He didn't!"

"He did, and I thank you very kindly not to interrupt me again. As I was saying, after that, I became a different man. I gained humility, respect, a new perspective on life. My mother, however, didn't get the memo."

"So what happened?" asked Dash.

"I was sitting around the house one day, two weeks ago I think it was, and I was minding my own business. Just then my mother came in and asked me 'When was the last time you went out and challenged your enemies, those Alpha Force brats?' No offense on you guys, that's just what she said."

"None taken."

"So I told her you guys weren't my enemies anymore, and she said 'Now, Loren, just because you get defeated once in a while is no reason to give up'. I told her that even if I wanted to, I couldn't fight you guys because I had no magic left." Loren stopped. "Can I get some water please?"

"I'll get it," said Dash. He was there and back in no time at all, and he didn't spill a drop. "Hey, it's what I do."

After whetting his parched throat, Loren continued his story. "So, my mom and I got into this argument, and somehow she ends up saying, 'Once again, I have to do your work for you!' And off she went, concocting some new plan to destroy you guys."

"So what else is new?" Ashley asked sarcastically.

"Plenty, you snide little urchin!" Loren hissed. "She called in favors from all her best buds in Europe, telling them that if they didn't do exactly as she said, she'd hex them all! So these guys went to five different cities to make nuisances of themselves."

"Wait a minute," said Violet, "you mean to tell me our Europe assignment was all your mother's doing?"

"Yes," Loren said sorrowfully.

"We've been had!" José screamed.

Kim turned to the sheriff. "You knew about this, and you let us do it anyway?"

"I'm sorry, but she threatened my family too, said they'd all die if you guys didn't go."

"So, what was her master plan?" asked Violet.

"She knew how strong you guys were, and she anticipated your victory. In fact, it was a critical part of her plan. Once you all won, you all would receive medals." He paused once more. "Violet, when you shook the French mayor's hand, did you notice anything unusual?"

"I felt a little prick on my hand, but I didn't think it was major," she answered.

"Hey, I felt a prick too," said Ashley. As it turns out, all five of them did.

"That prick was to get a sample of your DNA, so she could carry out the second part of her plan."

"Wait, so she pulled us across a great ocean just to get a sample of our genetic make-up?" asked Kim. "Why didn't she just stage this thing in the United States?"

"So that you would never suspect what was going on," said Loren.

"It worked!" remarked Ashley.

"But how did she get the DNA samples back to California all the way from Europe?"

"She's a witch, she used magic, hello! She summoned it to her lair through the telephone. Anyway, using a simple spell, and the DNA she got from her Europe friends, she was able to produce clones of each of you."

"So we each have an evil copy of ourselves running around out there?" asked José. "How cliché is that?"

"I wouldn't know," said Loren, "I don't read comic books much."

"So these evil clones are only around to destroy our reputation?"

"Yep."

"Is there anything else you can tell us?"

"Two things, actually. These MagiClones (patent pending) are imperfect. They are slightly different from the original person they're based on."

"Like Violet's clone was almost eight inches taller than she is," Dash pointed out.

"Are you ever going to stop with the short jokes, Dash?" asked Violet.

"Nope, once short stuff, always short stuff. Get used to it!"

"And the other thing…?" Kim asked Loren.

"The other thing," he answered, "is that MagiClones (patent still pending) come with a failsafe mechanism, which will cause them to disintegrate when activated. They all have a pin in the back of their neck, like the pin on a hand grenade. Pull the pin, and **poof**, they're gone."

"Boy, that's lucky for us!" said José.

"Too bad this isn't a novel," said Kim, "because if it was, I'd stop reading right here."

"Kim, what are you talking about?"

Kim shifted her eyes nervously. "Oh, nothing."

"Good," said Ashley, "because what we need right now is a little less talk and a lot more action!"

"Whoa, hold on!" said Violet. "I'm not so sure we should get back into action so soon. My powers aren't yet back to where they should be."

"But we can't just sit around and do nothing while those…those…" Dash searched his limited vocabulary for the right word. "While those evil uses are out there doing God knows what!"

"Perhaps I could help?" said Loren. "I'll talk to my mother and see if I can buy you guys some time."

"What are you going to tell her?"

"I don't know, I'll think of something. Oh, I got something: I'll tell her that I'll take over Omega Force for a while, but then I'll hold them at bay or something. But then my mom will find out and chew me out about it, so it will only be good for about a day, maybe two."

Violet grinned, "More than enough time. Thank you, Loren, you are a saint!"

"I'll issue a press release about this Omega Force," said the sheriff, "so you can get your reputation back!"

"Thanks. In the meantime, I need to use your phone," said Violet.

…

"Hello, Dr. Gibson's office."

"This is Violet Parr, I need to see Superdoc today. When is his earliest convenience?"

"I think he might be able to see you now, but you'll have to hurry, he's got an appointment at 2:45."

"Pencil me in for 2:30, I'm on my way!" Click. "Kim, you come with me in case I can't drive home. The rest of you, run back to the house and try very hard not to make this worse for us than it is already! Let's move! We haven't got time to waste!"

(A/N: Hi. Yeah, I know, the whole evil twin motif is kind of hackneyed, but I think I can put a fresh spin on it. Stick around, there's more action coming in the future. If your reading this, please don't stop, because I have abandonment issues. JK!)


	21. Wild Rides, Doctors, and Screaming

Dateline: Tuesday, July 7, 1981, 2:17 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

"VIOLET!"

Kimberly was more than just a little scared of her sister-in-law's driving. Violet had the pedal to the metal and both of the car's rocket engines flaring. Needless to say she was going fast enough to make Dash look like a snail. The road was scorched in her wake, and she was barely avoiding collisions left and right.

"Vi, please tell me you didn't learn this reckless behavior in driving school!"

"Driving school?" said Violet.

Kim's jaw dropped. "You mean to tell me you never took driving lessons!"

"The best way to learn is by doing, right?" she responded, trying to save face.

"Now you tell me?" Kim looked back at the road. "AAH! Violet, look out!" Violet swerved just in time to miss another car. "Seriously, Vi, you should slow down a little bit, maybe we can get to the hospital in one piece?"

"If we don't go fast, we may not get to the hospital at all! Now, hold on to something, I'm about to shift into second gear."

"It was in first the whole time?" Kim couldn't believe what she was hearing! Quickly, she clasped her hands and began to pray, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Naaaaaaaaaaaaame!" She screamed at that point because the car had suddenly accelerated to a near supersonic speed. They arrived at the hospital in no time at all. When Violet stepped in the brakes, the screech could be heard as far away Rio de Janeiro.

"See, I told you we'd get here all right," said Violet turning to the passenger seat. She was confused when Kim wasn't there. Her glasses were there, but her body wasn't. "Kim? KIM?"  
"Back here, boss," Kim said with a muffled voice. The sudden acceleration had flung the fluid female against the back window of the car, where she now hung in a rather unsettling splatter.

"Oh my God, Kim! Are you okay?"

"After being tossed like a rag doll across an SUV because of my sister-in-law's reckless driving? Of course I'm not okay! I'm not physically injured, if that's what you mean." She fell off the window and landed on the floor of the car with a disturbing _plop._ Then she oozed her way back into the passenger's seat and her normal form. "Consider yourself lucky, leadfoot."

"I am so sorry. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

"A promise never to drive again comes to mind," Kim said.

"Done," said Violet.

The two of them got out of the car and walked (not ran) into the building. Locating Superdoc was not difficult; he was watching the press release that the sheriff was talking about earlier. Shannon was startled when Violet tapped him on the shoulder.

"Violet Parr!" he said excitedly, "Just the person I wanted to see! Listen, about what I said earlier, I'm sorry, but I didn't…" Vi cut him off.

"You're forgiven, now listen carefully, I've got a problem with my powers and I need you to take a look at it okay?"

"Right, yes, of course. Step into my office."

…

"As you can see, Doctor, I can still shoot force fields out of my left hand, but my right hand produces nothing, and I don't know what's going on!"

"Hmm, that is unusual. Have you been feeling any strange pain or discomfort in your right side?"

"Now that you mention it, my armpit has been feeling kind of funny since I tangled with M. Mincemeat."

"Is that when you noticed this problem?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Let me take a look at that," Dr. Gibson said. He started to poke around at the site Violet was complaining about, literally. He asked periodically whether something hurt or not. After the examination, Superdoc said very thoughtfully, "It seems you've ruptured your energy converter vessel."

"That's what I was afraid of," Violet moped.

"Wait, what does that mean?" asked Kim.

"The energy converter vessel," Dr. Gibson said, "is what carries stored energy from Violet's liver into her hands, where she can convert it into a force field."

"Oh," Kim said, though she still didn't fully comprehend it.

"We could perform minor surgery at the site of the break and stitch it back together. Shouldn't take more than two, maybe three hours."

"Sounds like a plan. What time?"

"Tomorrow, at say, 7:00?"

"I don't know," said Violet, "I've been away from my desk for quite some time now and if I don't check back in with Mr. Black soon, I'll get canned for sure."

"So, sometime this weekend then?"

"I don't think I can wait that long either."

"Then what are we going to do?"

Violet said nothing for what seemed like hours but was really only ten minutes. She was contemplating a plan. When she did speak, she said this: "Book me an operating room for tomorrow at 10:00 AM. I'll see if I can work something out with Mr. Black."

"All right, Violet. Take care of yourself, and I'll see you on Wednesday."

"I sure hope so, doc."

Back in the parking lot, Violet reached for the driver's side door, but Kim stopped her.

"Oh no you don't!" she stated boldly. "You promised! I'm driving us home!"

"Okay, but are you sure you can work a stick?"

"I haven't heard any complaints from Dash!" Kim joked. Violet punched her square in the jaw. "OW!"

"Don't EVER…joke like that again!" she scolded.

"All right, Sister Mary Python."

"And don't call me that either!"

"Would you prefer I called you short stuff?"

"You will call me 'boss', until further notice, you little insect! Understood?" Violet was visibly enraged.

"Yes, ma'am," Kim said, realizing that she could do much worse to her than a fat lip.

Back at home, the sight Violet saw when she walked in the door did not squelch her rage. She saw Dash, Ashley and José listening to music instead of discussing strategy like she asked them to.

"I still don't understand the lyrics," José said, "what exactly is a 'back right turn?'"

"Back right turn?" Dash asked curiously.

"You know, in that Beatles song, it goes 'make the back right turn?'"

"No, no, no," said Ashley; "it's 'Paperback Writer'!"

"Oh! That makes so much more sense!"

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" Violet screamed at the top of her lungs. They all scrambled to their feet and stood at attention, facing their leader. All, that is, except for Ashley. Fortunately, Dash noticed this and corrected her.

Violet began to pace in front of her troops like the aggravated drill instructor she felt like just then. "Maybe you guys need (pause) to be re-taught (pause) the concept of (pause) chain of command, hmm?"

_What got into her?_ Ashley thought-spoke to Dash, _is she usually like this?_

_I don't know,_ he answered.

Violet seemed to notice that Ashley was using her powers. She moved in three inches away from the redhead's face. "Are you think-talking while I'm talking, Cohen?"

She didn't even need her powers to tell how upset Violet was. "Ma'am, no, ma'am," she said.

"I can't hear you!"

"Ma'am, no, ma'am!" Ashley repeated a little bit louder.

"You better not be! Now, I am (pause) your leader. Do you know what that means?" That was a rhetorical question. "It means that what I say do, you do. If I say 'jump,' you say…?"

"How high, ma'am?" they said in unison.

"If I say 'run', you say…?"

"How far, ma'am?"

"If I say 'bring me a burger,' you say…?"

"Would you like fries with that?"

"Would you like fries with that, what?"

"Would you like fries with that, ma'am?"

"That's right! So if I say 'go home and discuss strategy,' should you go home and listen to music?"

"Ma'am, no, ma'am!"

"What should you do then?"

"Discuss strategy, ma'am!"

"Then what were you doing listening to music?" Violet asked. There was no response. "Do you realize that because of this, we are now a day short on defeating our newest threat?" Now Violet was red-faced from yelling so much. "Well, look what I have for soldiers! A bunch of dumb mutes! But I think I know how to get them talking again! All of you drop and give me ten! Drop!" They did.

After this little basic training session, Violet drew herself a bath and soaked in it. While she did that, the others began to talk about what just happened.

"My God," said José, "I've never seen this side of her before!"

"I could sense a rage like a wildfire in her soul!" commented Ashley.

"I guess we really screwed up this time," Dash said somberly.

"You're not alone," said Kim, "I think I caused her to be this upset."

"What did you do?"

Kim told them about the names that she called Violet.

"You didn't!" said Dash in surprise.

"I didn't see what the big deal was! You call her short stuff all the time, honey!"

"Exactly! It's okay when I call her that. 'Short stuff' is mine!"

"Dash, we're married. That means what's yours is mine!"

They all laughed.

"What's going on out there?" asked Violet.

"Nothing, boss!" said Kim. "Yeah, she said I have to call her that until she decides not to be angry with me anymore."

"She can't stay mad at us forever, right Dash?" asked Ashley and José.

"Don't worry, once she's had her bath, she'll be back to normal. Well, as normal as she gets!" Nobody laughed.

(A/N: Okay, I think I'll stop here for now before this chapter gets way too long. The team will discuss a unique battle strategy in the next chapter. At first, I was thinking this story would be much shorter than Dawn of the Silver Age, but now that I'm fully committed to finishing it, I think Destination Europe might be forty chapters too. I just like the number forty, it's biblical. Anyway, review, be honest, and I'll see you next time!)


	22. The Battle Plan is Drawn Out

Dateline: Tuesday, July 7, 1981, 2:58 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

You've heard the expression "the tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife". In the living room of the Alpha Force supers this afternoon, the tension was so thick, a knife wouldn't help; you'd need a jackhammer. Violet had had a very bad day. She had only been home for about two hours, and already she had been in and out of jail, insulted by her sister-in-law, and disrespected by the others. She had already vented most of her frustration onto the other members of the team, and now had spent the last twenty minutes in a warm bath, trying to calm down. While she did that, the others sat silently in the living room, too frightened to even move. They were waiting for Violet to come out, and were scared by what she would do next. Presently, she emerged from the bath with her hair in a towel and her robe wrapped tightly.

"Guys," she began. "I'm sorry I blew up in your faces earlier. But you have to understand that I was very upset then. What I need from you guys right now is some respect and obedience. Okay?"

"Sure thing, boss," the team echoed.

"Good. Now, let's talk strategy."

They met over the dining room table. "Okay," said Violet, "what do we know about our enemies?"

"We know that they're almost identical to ourselves," said Kim.

"They have all our same powers," said Dash.

"Oh my God!" said Ashley, "Vi, I think this is what your dream was about!"

"What dream?" asked José.

Violet told them all about the dream she had on the plane.

"Oh, wow."

"Yeah, wow," she said. "Anyway, it seems that the logical course of action is for each of us to face our own counterparts."

"Wait," said Kim. "I don't think that's a very good idea. First of all, they'll be expecting us to do just that. Second of all, a battle between a super and his clone is likely to end in a tie. But we don't want to tie; we want to win, right? So let's send someone else against each clone, someone who can beat them?"

"Genius!" said José. "Liquegirl does it again! Or, no, wait, who's going to take on my clone? He's got more powers than a Swiss army knife. Any physical attack is likely to be stopped."

"So let's use a mental attack!" Dash piped up.

"ME?" Ashley screamed in terror. She had seen José in action, (okay, maybe 'seen' isn't the right word, but you know what I mean) and she knew how powerful he was. "I don't think I can do it!"

"I believe in you, Ashley," said Violet. "Come on, you didn't think you could beat Five-Alarm Jim, but you did!"

"I beat Fiver Jim by reading his mind and getting to the root of his aggression. This evil clone probably doesn't even think! My telepathy won't be of any use."

"So don't use it! Use your telekinesis instead. Grab him in a chokehold and go Vader on him!"

"Hmm. I never thought of that."

"Okay, so Ashley will fight Heart Attack, José's clone," said Violet.

"Wait, how do you know his name is Heart Attack?"

"I don't. I made it up myself. What do you think?"

"It fits," said José. "But who's going to face Ashley's clone? I mean, if she can kill me, so to speak, she can kill any of us!"

"I think I can take her!" said Kim. "If the evil Ashley pulls a Vader on me, I can just slip out of it!" Kim pulled her head off to show every one how it could be done.

"All right, it's Kim v. Blind Fate. Now, what about Floodgate, Kim's clone? She practically can't be touched, right?"

"I call dibs on that one!" said Dash. "All I have to do is pull the pin from her neck, right?"

"Yes," said Violet, "and I think I can take care of Demon, Dash's clone. That leaves José to tangle with my evil twin, Viper."

"I don't know if I can," said José.

"What? Since when do you have doubt in your abilities?"

"It's not that I doubt my abilities, it's just that every other villain I've faced was one I could see!"

"Oh, that's all?" said Dash. "Vi, what say we give him, the demonstration?"

"Okay, if you think it will help," she said. She rose from the table and turned invisible.

"You see, José, in the eighteen years that I've lived with Violet, I've learned how to pinpoint invisible threats, and stop them." Dash closed his eyes and brought his hands together like he was meditating. Then he delivered a jab at what looked like air. Really, he had punched Violet, and they learned this when she suddenly reappeared. "It's really all a matter of…focus. I can show you my secrets, if you are willing."

"Sure, but I'm not sure it would be right to pick on Violet because she's the only one of us who can turn invisible,"

"It's no big deal," Violet said. "I'm used to it. Oh, that reminds me, I'm going to have surgery tomorrow at ten in the morning."

"Why?" asked Dash.

Violet whispered in his ear.

"Oh!"

"I just hope Mr. Black will be okay with it."

"Of course he'll be okay with it! Come on, a super hero needs medical attention as much as anyone else, right?"

"Yeah, but I've spent an awful lot of time away from my desk, and you know how bosses are when you take lots of time of work for no reason."

"So tell him the reason," Kim suggested.

Violet was stunned silent. "You mean you want me to tell my boss that I'm a superhero?"

"Well, if you're going to be taking off work a lot, costing him thousands of dollars a year, he at least deserves to know why, don't you think?"

"But what if he turns out to be a hero hater? If I tell him my secret, then he'll fire me!"

"If he does, you can collect unemployment insurance."

"What if he spills the beans?"

"Tell him you'll find a new job if he does. That will keep his mouth shut!"

"Violet," said Ashley, "you can't expect to keep you secret identity a secret from everyone. You have to be able to trust some people. I think Mr. Black needs to know the truth about his Director of Personnel."

"And besides," said Dash, "if he turns out to be untrustworthy, we can always erase his memory."

Violet sighed. "All right, I'll tell him, but if it goes awry, it will be on your heads, clear?"

"Fair enough," they echoed.

"Okay, so what do we do now?"

"I'm going to take José and Violet into the backyard for a few invisible enemy drills," said Dash, "and you two can do whatever you want."

"Do you mind if we watch?" Ashley asked.

"No, I guess not."

(A/N: Sorry, but I have to stop here. I think I'm getting another case of writer's block. You know, we can put a man on the moon, but we can't develop a cure for writer's block. Go figure. Anyway, the next few chapters are probably going to be boring filler, but stay tuned anyway, because I promise much action later! Until next time…)


	23. Meanwhile, Back at the Office

Dateline: Wednesday, July 8, 1981, 9:03 AM, Pacific Daylight Time

Today was the day Violet was due to go under the knife, to fix the little problem with her powers. All she had to do was find a way to get away from her desk. As Python, she had escaped from numerous super villains' deathtraps without so much as a blemish. But getting off work at 10:00, now that takes some doing. Theoretically, all she had to do was tell Mr. Black what was going on. Theoretically, it should have been easy. But in the real world, "theoretically" only goes so far. Violet's co-worker Zachary Smith seemed to sense that something was bothering her as she passed by his cubicle.

"Hey Vi," he said, "I sense that something is bothering you."

"It's nothing," she said. It was a knee-jerk response for her, trying to maintain her secret identity and such.

"Maybe if you tell me what's bugging you, I can help. What have you got to lose?"

Violet probably could have thought of a very good reason to keep her mouth shut if she thought about it long enough. But, she didn't, so she spilled her guts. She told him she was due for an operation, and at what time. She didn't mention the nature of the operation, or who would be performing it. Then she said she was afraid to ask the big cheese for the morning off because of all the time she had taken off of work recently.

Smitty took a minute to digest this information, then said, "Is there any particular reason why you've been away from your desk during business hours?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to tell me what that reason is?"

"No."

"Is this reason completely and utterly trivial?"

"No."

"Then you should tell Mr. Black the truth. I'm sure if you have a good reason for taking off of work, he'll understand."

Violet sighed. "That's what my roommates all say."

"Listen to them. They sound smart."

"You wouldn't know, Smitty. You don't have to live with them!"

Smitty chuckled. "How true!"

"Wish me luck!"

"Good luck, Violet. Hmm, I have the strangest feeling we've done this before."

Violet opened Mr. Black's office door and barely stuck her head in. Even though she could choke the man to death without him even knowing it, he still gave her a sense of inferiority ever time she saw him. At that moment, Violet thought about how much easier this would be if someone had drugged his coffee like last time.

"What do you want, Parr?"

Damn, no such luck.

"C-can I talk to you, sir?"

"Well, what do you call what you're doing right now? Breathing fancy?"

Violet stepped into the room and sat down. It was now or never. "Sir, I was wondering if it would be okay if I took off of work at ten today?"

"Why? Do you have plans?"

"I'm due for surgery," she said.

"Oh, my!" said Mr. Black in what seemed like mock surprise. "I had no idea you were terminally ill! In that case, by all means…"

"I'm not going to die, sir," Violet interrupted.

"Then why don't you wait until this weekend?"

"It really can't wait, sir."

"Why not?"

Violet couldn't decide what to say next. Should she lie? Should she come right out and say who she really was? Perhaps she should tell him something to keep him from probing further; like that the information would come at a steep price. She didn't know for sure, and it didn't help that Mr. Black was staring at her, waiting for a response.

"You know," he said, "you've spent a lot of time away from your desk lately. I pay you way too much money for you to goof off, Parr."

"You're right, sir, you're absolutely right." Violet couldn't believe it. She was turning into a company yes-man.

"I should dock your pay for all the lost productivity you've caused. But I'm a compassionate guy." Don't believe him? Neither did Violet. "If you tell me what you've been doing when you're supposed to be working, I might be lenient toward you. Now, tell me the truth."

"Sir, I would love to tell you everything, but the thing is it needs to be kept secret from the general public. If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell another living soul, under penalty of death without notification of your next of kin. Understand?"

"If you're just trying to scare me into not wanting to know what's going on, you should know that it's not working."

"Okay, sir, but I warned you. The truth is I've got another job. I work for the police. It's my duty to protect the streets, and lead the fight for truth, justice, and the American way. Mr. Black, I'm a superhero."

Mr. Black scoffed. "Yeah, if I nickel for every time I've heard that one!"

"I can prove it!" She turned invisible the instant after she said "it". Mr. Black jumped onto his chair in terror. Violet reappeared.

"Jeez, Parr! Give me a heart attack, why don't you?"

"It's like this. My powers are a little weakened from a previous battle, so I need to go under the knife to bring them back to their fullest, before my next confrontation. So it's just like I said, I'm not terminally ill, but the surgery can't wait. The doctor says it shouldn't take more than three hours."

"All right, you can go, but I want you back at your desk the minute you get out of the operating room. Also, I'm taking that time from your paycheck this week."

"Fair enough. Now, remember what I said, you can't tell anyone that I'm a super, or you'll be killed."

"Relax, I've never spilled a secret in my entire life."

"Good." As Violet turned to leave, she suddenly remembered something. "Oh, before I forget, Jenkins told me _not_ to tell you that she's stealing paper from the copier."

Mr. Black stifled a laugh. "Okay, well you tell her that I have no idea what she's doing! Get well soon!"

"I will, sir." Violet strode out of the boss's office with her head held high. She glanced at her watch. It was 9:41. It would take her twenty minutes to get to the hospital, so she had to move now. As she made her way to the elevator, she passed by her office rival, Sarah Jenkins.

"Hello, Parr."

"Oh, Jenkins, Mr. Black told me to tell you that he is completely unaware of your stealing paper from the copier!"

"Really? He's completely in the dark?"

Violet smiled inwardly. "That's what he said."

"Great! I knew I could count on you not to tell him!"

"Yeah, that's me, trusty dependable Violet Parr, who would never in a million years dream of lying to anyone, or spill anyone's secret. Yep, that's just the kind of woman I am!" Violet smiled her best innocent smile. "Um, don't you have something you need to do, Sarah?"

"Oh, right, see ya." It wasn't until Violet had made it to the elevator that Jenkins realized what had happened. "Wait a minute…" Sarah whipped around. Too late, the doors were closed! "Damn you, Parr!"

(A/N: Funny stuff, right? I may do a whole series of stuff around Violet and the workplace thing. Do you think I should, or would it be too boring for words? Oh, and this was never my intention to let Mr. Black know the truth. If you can think of a better way to resolve this, let me know, okay? Okay, see ya in the funny papers!)


	24. Operation Fix Violet

Dateline: Wednesday, July 8, 1981, 9:58 AM, Pacific Daylight Time.

Violet parked rather hastily before she rushed into the hospital. She quickly explained to the nurse who she was and why she was there. The nurse, in turn, told Vi to fill out a few forms and "wait over there, please." It was at that very moment that she had an epiphany: the only real difference between the general hospital and the Department of Motor Vehicles is that the DMV really doesn't care. Hospitals care, but they're still stuffy, they're still bureaucratic, and they still smell like linoleum. Violet felt kind of lonely just then. She really wanted to see a friendly face before she went under the knife. As if on cue, Dash walked in and sat down next to her.

"Hey there, short stuff," he said.

Violet elbowed him. "You know how much I hate when you call me that!"

"Yeah, but I just can't help myself!"

"Well, it's nice to see you anyway. What made you decide to come here?"

"I thought you might like a little company before your operation. Don't worry, nobody saw me use my powers, I took the bus."

"Thanks for caring, Dash. You know how nervous I get about surgery."

"That's true. I remember the appendectomy you had ten years ago…wait, was it ten?"

"Let's see, I was eleven then, so yeah, ten years."

"Right. Anyway, you were so scared, you had my wrist in a death grip for two hours. After that I couldn't feel anything for a month. Oh, and after the surgery, Mom and Dad spent three weeks trying to convince you that you weren't going to die!"

Violet scoffed and began to shift her eyes. "Oh, Dash, you're exaggerating!"

"Nuh-uh! You wrote out a will and everything! Oh, you said you wanted your ashes scattered over the playground at the elementary school, remember that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she lied.

"What's the big deal? It's not like anybody we know is here!"

Violet pulled her brother close and whispered in his ear, "If anyone on the team finds out about this, you're going to regret it!"

"But, I'll have to tell Kim. It's not healthy for a marriage to keep secrets from your spouse."

Violet was surprised. "Where did you hear that?"

"From this book Kim made me read."

"Of course! Well, if you tell her, I'll have to tell her about what you did the summer of '75!"

"Go ahead, she already knows about that!"

"You're bluffing."

"Do I look like I'm bluffing, big sister?"

"Miss Parr," said the nurse, "the doctor is ready for you."

Violet wanted to die right then and there. Dash could feel her trembling with abject fear.

"Relax, Vi. You won't feel a thing, remember? Now, come on, the team needs you to be at your best when we battle Omega Force."

"Okay, here I go," she said.

"You're not moving."

"Give me a pull."

"Okay." Dash yanked on Violet's arm and dragged half the way to the OR. Dr. Gibson was there, scalpel in hand. That only made it worse for Violet.

"Good morning," he said. Violet cowered behind Dash. "Is, uh, something wrong?"

"Oh, no, doctor, Vi's just a little spooked is all. She's never been too thrilled to have an operation, trust me."

"Well, don't worry about that. In the thirteen years I've been in medicine, I've never botched up an operation. Now, let's have Violet come to the operating table, please. Dash, if you'll wait in the recovery room…?"

Dash slowly backed away as Violet was being prepared. Superdoc began to walk Violet through what he was going to do.

"All right, I'm going to give you a shot of local anesthetic just inside your arm. Your whole right side should go numb. Then we're going to make a small incision in your skin, just above the energy converter vessel, so we can access it. Lucky for us, it rests above your muscular system, so we won't need to be so invasive. Next, we're going to patch up the damage by sewing the two ends back together. That should make it good as new. Then we'll close everything up and you'll be good to go, okay?"

"Um, doc, I didn't understand half of what you said, but the half I did understand sounds nice. Let's get this over with."

"Okay, here we go." Superdoc gripped the needle as slowly inserted it into the patient's skin. She winced. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, it didn't hurt too much."

"Good." Dr. Gibson injected her with the drugs. Not sure when they would take effect, he poked her and asked her if she felt it. He repeated this until he got a "no".

"Scalpel," he said. "We've only got half an hour until this stuff wears off, so we have to be fast."

"Um, doc," said Violet, "this would be a whole lot easier if you didn't talk."

"Sorry."

The doctor slowly made his incision, careful not to accidentally sever any major blood vessels. Once he did that, he reached into her body and felt around for two small tubular things. He found them rather quickly. He pulled the two ends of Violet's energy vessel outside where he could see them. He inserted one end into the other.

"Suture," he said. The nurse handed it to him. He stitched up the damaged vessel rather quickly.

_I hope this won't affect her stature,_ he thought to himself, not wanting Violet to freak out. He shoved the vessel back inside and stitched up the incision. "Okay, we're all finished. The anesthetic won't wear off for another ten minutes yet, so don't get up."

"Okay," said Violet, who was too relieved to argue.

Dr. Gibson wheeled her bed into the recovery room where Dash was waiting for her.

"How's my girl?" he asked.

"I'm okay, but since when am I your girl, Dash? I thought you only had eyes for Kim."

"I do, but you're my sister, and you always will be. I love you no matter what, Vi."

Violet smiled. "Thanks, Dash. That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

"I mean it."

Violet reached up and kissed her brother. "I love you too, Dash. OH!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"I just remembered, Jack-Jack's birthday was yesterday, and we didn't even say happy birthday to him!"

"Uh-oh. Eh, what's the worst that could happen? So, should we go back home now?"

"You go ahead, I have to get back to work."

"Ah, right. I'll just run home so fast that nobody can see me."

"Nobody better see you, Speedo!"

Dash kissed Violet once more before he departed. Slowly Violet walked back to the parking lot. But when she got to her car, she had a most unwelcome surprise waiting for her on the windshield.

"Damn it! Why didn't I take the time to find a legal parking spot? Oh, well, at least it wasn't towed this time."

(A/N: There are few things in this world funnier than seeing a superhero getting a parking ticket, right? God, I hope so, because I plan to milk this gag for a very long time. If it's not funny, please tell me now, before I make a complete fool of myself.)


	25. The Most Boring Chapter in this Story

Dateline: Wednesday, July 8, 1981, 12:22 PM, Pacific Daylight Time

"Hey, Violet," said Smitty. "So, how'd the operation go?"

"It went well," she said. "I'm 100 percent."

"Good. Oh, did you hear what happened to Jenkins?"

"No, what?"

"Somebody leaked to Mr. Black that she was stealing paper from the copier."

"No way!" Violet said in mock surprise. "Who would do such a thing?"

"She told me that you did it. But that's not true, is it?"

"Well, I didn't tell him per se, I just might have casually mentioned to Mr. Black that Sarah told me not to tell him something." She added a sly wink at the end.

"Oh, Vi, that's diabolical! You're an evil genius!"

Smitty intended that to be a compliment, but he wasn't aware that the term 'evil genius' was the complete antithesis of what Violet really was. She grabbed him by the collar and ordered him to take it back. Not wanting to be beat up by a girl, Smitty retracted his comment. Presently, Jenkins stepped up to the water cooler where they were.

"Violet," she said without emotion.

"Sarah," was the response.

"Oh, I just remembered, I have work to do!" Smitty excused himself. The two women refused to look each other in the eye.

"So, Mr. Black found out I was stealing paper from the copier."

"Yeah, I heard."

Sarah cleared her throat. "There's a rumor going around that you told him."

"Who, me? I would never tell him that!"

Sarah narrowed her eyes at Violet. "Don't give me that, Parr, I know it was you!"

"Oh, well, if you know so much, why'd you do it in the first place?"

"That's none of your concern, little Miss Nosy. But what is your concern…is this!"

Sarah flipped a lever that clearly had been placed there this morning. It started a ball bearing rolling down a chute. Violet followed the chute and saw that at the end of it was a domino chain. Sarah had set up a Rube Goldberg device of sorts, the upshot of which was the depositing of some unknown substance all over Vi's cube.

"My desk!" she screamed. Violet quickly rushed to grab all the personal things off her desk (photos, her Rubik's Cube, action figures of her parents, etc.). She managed to evacuate her cubicle just seconds before the chain reaction was complete. Her desk, her files, her chair, everything she didn't grab was covered in old cheese.

"Ha!" Violet shouted triumphantly. "Everything you destroyed was company property! Face!"

Just then, Mr. Black happened by. He noticed the very large mess in Violet's cube. After all, how could he not? He looked at the two women.

"She did it!" they said at the same time, pointing at each other.

"Oh, yeah, this is what I need. I spent the whole day just hoping I would see my employees acting like three-year-olds, and wouldn't you know it? Here you are!"

"Mr. Black, you have to believe me, the whole thing was set up by Jenkins here!"

"Jenkins, is this true?"

"No, sir!" she lied, "I've been working all day."

"Then where are those advertising reports I asked you to do this morning?"

"I, uh, haven't exactly finished them yet, sir."

"Well, how far along are you?"

"I, uh, haven't exactly started them yet, sir."

"No? Then what the hell have you been doing all day, Sarah?"

Sarah said nothing.

"Don't you think you should get on the stick, Jenkins? You wouldn't want to make me unhappy, now, would you?"

"Yes, sir, right away, sir!" Sarah left.

"And as for you, Parr, if I were you, I'd think about putting in a little overtime to make up for those lost wages. You can start by cleaning up this mess."

"But, sir, I…"

"Unless you'd rather work in a mess, of course. But, you don't, do you?"

"No, sir."

"Then get moving!" Mr. Black turned and left.

Violet groaned in agony. None of this was her fault, yet she was being punished for it. She should have told Mr. Black off; she would have been in the right. But the big cheese was right, the overtime pay was more important to her than being right. She got a mop from the janitor and started scrubbing. By one o'clock, she had finished the floor. She was just about to start on her desk when her watch went off.

_Oh, this is good timing! _She thought. _Okay, what to do? Do I save the world or do I get back to work? If I don't do this, I might get fired. If I don't dress out, the city could get destroyed. Hmm, not exactly a trick question._

She ducked into the fourth floor ladies room and spoke into the radio.

"Python reporting,"

"This is Papa Bear," came the response. "Papa Bear" was the sheriff's codename for use on the radio. "I've got a contact on the line who needs to speak with you, Python."

"Who is it?"

"It's our informant concerning those evil clones."

"Put him through."

"Violet, listen, I've got some bad news," said Loren.

"What?"

"My mother found out I was holding Omega Force back, so she wrested control back from me, and she's preparing to use them."

"Good, because we're finally ready for them. Give me the coordinates."

"The strike will be at the Lone Oak Mall, in about an hour."

"Roger. Alert the rest of the team, I've got something else I need to take care of. Python out."

Violet cleaned off an area on her desk then stuck a Post-it™ to it. On the note, she wrote "Sorry I couldn't stay and finish, sir, but my other duties called me away, again." She didn't say what those duties were, for fear someone else might read it and put two and two together. Then she ducked into the women's changing room to dress out. As Python, she drove back home to pick up her sword. When she got there, she found the rest of the team already in costume and ready to go.

"About time!" Liquegirl said. "It's going to take us a half an hour to get there! Now hand over the keys!"

"What are you talking about?" Rocket asked. "Python's the leader, so she gets to drive!"

"No, no," said Python, "Your wife and I had an agreement, she'll drive from now on."

"Then I call shotgun!" said Rocket.

"Fine, whatever, let's just get in the car and go!"

And that's what they did.

(A/N: Look alive, you guys! The action's finally picking up again! And just when you thought this story was dying, too! Sorry, I won't be able to update much in the near future; I've got a lot of schoolwork to do.)


	26. Trading Insults Before the Real Battle

Dateline: Wednesday, July 8, 1981, 1:49 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

If she had a window seat, sitting in back wouldn't have bothered Python very much. However, she was stuck in the middle, and it was very unpleasant. She really liked driving; it made her feel like she was in control of her own destiny. Plus, this was technically her car, so she should be driving it. But a promise is a promise.

"Ashley!" said Liquegirl. "We're coming up on some road work. I need you to TAG the car so we can fly over it."

Blind Tracy was hesitant. "Should I, Python?"

"Go ahead," she responded.

"Okay, where's the thing?"

Python guided the young psychic to the decal on the center console. Blind Tracy focused all her energy on lifting the car off the ground. It did levitate, but it put a lot of strain on her. The car didn't even budge one inch before Blind Tracy dropped it on a reflex.

"I'm sorry, but even when I TAGed the car to help me out, I just couldn't do it."

"That's okay, Ashley," said Rocket. "We'll just have to find another route."

"But won't we be too late?" asked Heartthrob.

"Not if we have Dash TAG up," suggested Liquegirl.

"Whoa, slow down, I'm not so sure that's a good idea. Do you remember what happened last time?" said Python.

"Yeah, you're right. Oh well, it's not like the whole world will be destroyed if we're just two minutes late, right?"

Well, they were two minutes late, and the whole world wasn't destroyed. However, there was a large chunk missing from the from the Lone Oak Mall, clearly the doing of the evil MagiClones (patent pending). Liquegirl drove unwillingly into a crowd of screaming people.

"Excuse me!" she said out the window to one of the panic-stricken civilians. "Is Omega Force in there?" He nodded his head. "Thank you!" She parked the car and the team climbed out.

"Okay, does everybody remember whom they are fighting?" asked Python.

"Um, I think I have Heart Attack," said Blind Tracy.

"Ashley's having a heart attack! Quick, to the hospital!" shouted Rocket.

"Dammit, Dash! Now is not the time to be making jokes!" Python chided.

"Sorry. Anyway, I know who I'm fighting!"

"Yeah, me too," said Liquegirl.

"I think I'm ready for this Viper," said Heartthrob.

"Well, if we're all ready, why aren't we in there?" said Python, pointing to the large hole in the wall. The team raced inside.

They didn't have to look far to find the evil MagiClones (patent still pending). They were standing atop a pile of rubble, and the looked like the soldiers at Iwo Jima. They could see that each clone was imperfect, and differed slightly from the original. Python's clone, Viper, was six feet tall, as they saw earlier. Rocket's clone, Demon, had a beard. Blind Tracy's clone, Blind Fate, had black hair. Heartthrob's clone, Heart Attack, was clean-shaven and had a uni-brow. Liquegirl's clone, Floodgate, didn't wear glasses. They all wore suits very similar to Alpha Force's, except for that strange symbol, which they now knew was the Greek letter Omega.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" Viper said in a sarcastic tone.

"Oh, so you can talk?" said Heartthrob. "I thought you guys would be like mindless zombies or something."

"Aren't you the witty one?" taunted Heart Attack. They all thought it was kind of strange that he spoke with a British accent.

"Yes, he does have a delightfully piquant wit," said Liquegirl. "Jealous?"

"Oh, please," said Floodgate, "that's like an elephant being jealous of the size of an ant!"

"What did you say?" asked Rocket.

"I said that's like an elephant being jealous of the size of an ant!"

"I know, I heard you the first time! That's the problem with you, all you do is talk! It's a wonder you guys get anything done!"

"Oh, I get things done!" interjected Demon. "Your mother, for example!"

Blind Tracy gasped. "Oh, no, he wants to talk about mothers now!"

"Well," said Python, "your mother is so fat, men only whistle at her when she's wearing yellow, because they think she's a taxicab!"

"We're MagiClones (patent pending), fool!" said Blind Fate. "We don't have mothers!"

"I said," Python interrupted, completely ignoring her, "your mother is so fat, she plays pool with the planets!"

"Oh, yeah?" said Viper, "well, then, your mother is so fat…uh…she has a hard time fitting through doors!"

"Your mother is so fat, she jumped up in the air, and got stuck!" said Rocket.

"Your mother is so dumb, she threw a rock in the air, and missed!" said Liquegirl.

"Your mother is so dumb," said Heart Attack, "uh…she was 22 when she graduated high school!"

The very thought that anybody could think that Omega Force's jokes were funny was absolutely preposterous. But the MagiClones (patent pending) did. And this fact, the supers thought, was funny in its own right. For the next three minutes, the exchange continued, Alpha Force launching insults, Omega Force making a lousy comeback, Alpha Force laughing at how lousy the comeback was, yadda yadda yadda, until finally…

"Enough of this nonsense!" Viper screamed. "Let's get 'em!"

"Scatter!" Python ordered. She disappeared and snuck away. The rest of the team dashed off in different directions. They did this to confuse their enemies, and to separate them. Once they were all hidden, Python got on her radio.

"Okay, guys, you remember the plan, right? Find your assigned clone and destroy it." An echo of 'Rogers' followed.

Python gripped her blade tightly and searched for Demon. "Now, if I were an evil clone of my brother, where would I go? The sporting goods department, probably." So with the stealthiest of super-spy cool, she cased the hallways looking to cut him to ribbons. She found her target raiding the sports store, like a true bad guy. Still invisible, Python tiptoed up behind him.

"I know that's you, Python," he said. "Your invisibility doesn't help."

_Damn, I should have known,_ she thought.

Demon gave her a quick kick in the ribs, sending her backwards. Python crashed into a display of health supplements, breaking her concentration and revealing her.

"And now, you die!" Demon leapt into the air and threatened to body slam the frail Python. It looked like it was all over for her, until…

(A/N: Ha, Ha! Cliffhanger! Or, maybe not. You can probably predict what's going to happen next. But I have to stop here. This is part of the plan to make this story forty chapters long. I'll publish Chapter 27 soon. Until then, review!)


	27. Python v Demon

Dateline: Wednesday, July 8, 1981, 2:12 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

Demon leapt into the air and threatened to body slam the frail Python. It looked like it was all over for her, until she rolled out of the way. The evil MagiClone (patent pending) crashed violently on the floor. He wound up staring as his own butt. Oddly, he didn't scream in pain at all. Python picked up Venom and readied herself for Demon's retaliation. The clone recovered to his feet and stared at his opponent in contempt.

"That was some quick thinking there, Python, I applaud you," he said. "But are you quick enough for me?" Demon began to run around her at very high speed. His plan was to box her in, then pummel her like ground beef. But Python had had this plan sprung on her before, big surprise there. She stuck her blade into his path and clotheslined him, hard. Once again, Demon didn't scream, even though he was bleeding now.

Python readied herself once more, waiting for Demon to attack. But he didn't, he just lay there like a wet noodle. She suspected that he would strike when she least expected it, so she didn't drop her guard for a minute. And still nothing. This was unexpected to say the least. Was the clone dead? No, that couldn't be it; his eye was twitching. So what was going on? Python gingerly stepped toward him, sword raised. She could see the pin stuck in the back of Demon's neck, the fail-safe mechanism that Loren told her about. She tapped the MagiClone's (patent still pending) body with the tip of her blade.

Big mistake! Demon was faking all along. As soon as he felt the blade on his back, he snatched it away and took off. When he returned, the blade was gone.

"What did you do with my sword, butthead?"

"It's up there," Demon said pointing. Python looked up and saw Venom hanging from the ceiling by a thread, with the business end pointed down. "You can have it back, if you beat me," he concluded.

"Don't you mean _when_ I beat you?"

"Well, aren't you the cocky…" He raced up to Python and struck her square in the jaw. She went down like a ton of bricks. "…one?" he finished. Python groaned in agony. "And now, for the big finish!" On hearing this, Python turned invisible. "Oh, you don't really think that's going to work, now do you? I still know where you are, and your defeat is inevitable!" He knelt down where the serpentine super had fallen and raised his fist. He brought it down hard, causing heavy damage to…the floor.

"Correction," Python's voice said, "You only _think_ you know where I am!" Demon followed the sound of her voice and attacked wildly, only to beat up nothing but air. "You see, once you've located me…" Another attack, "…I move somewhere else."

"Knock it off!" Demon screamed. "Why don't you show yourself and fight like a real hero?" At that point, Demon felt a sharp pain in his neck. It was Python, giving him a pressure point attack. He grabbed his attacker's arm and flung her into a wall, causing her to be exposed.

"So," said Demon, "you like to play hide and seek, huh? Well, let's see if you're as good at seeking as you are at hiding, eh?" And he dashed off like a madman. Python stood up and walked out into the hall, looking for Demon.

"Marco?" she asked. All of a sudden a flash of fabric whizzed by her, smacking her in the face.

"Polo," said Demon.

At this point, Python had an idea. "Marco?" she said again. Once again, the flash of fabric returned and hit her, saying "Polo."

_The fool! I know what to do now!_ She bent her knees and stuck out her hands, ready to cast a force field on a moment's notice. "Marco!" she said quickly, casting a shield just one second after she did. Demon ran up to her and tried to strike her, but instead he bounced off the force field and landed on the hard tile floor. Just like she wanted. Once again, Demon didn't moan in agony or anything. But now Python got a good look at the purple blood that covered his face and hands. "Polo!" she said triumphantly.

"Oh, that does it!" Demon hissed. "It's time I brought out my secret weapon! The Witch Queen granted me enough magic for one spell, and now is the time to use it!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Python said. She never expected something like this.

"ZEUS-IUS-NESS!" Demon screamed as he gestured in a supposedly magical way. Python's legs buckled, and she collapsed. She tried to get up, but her body suddenly felt like it weighed a ton. She even had trouble moving her hair.

"This spell causes you to experience the gravitational force of the planet Jupiter, right here on Earth," he explained. "How does it feel? What's it like to be crushed by your own body weight, huh?" As Demon continued babbling, Python managed to roll over onto her back. She forgot her magic-proof spray, so there was no way to lift the spell; she had to wait it out.

_There's got to be a way to take Demon down in spite of this curse,_ she thought. She swung her leg from side to side. And then it hit her. The gravity spell kept her from getting up, but she could still move laterally. She turned invisible and maneuvered herself into position.

"HA!" Demon said when he saw that his opponent was invisible again. "You really think you can fool me now? I still know where you are, and I can still finish you off!" As soon as he said that, Demon felt what her thought were two planks of wood slamming his legs together. The "planks" were actually Python's legs. Once she had him in that position, she twisted her waist, causing Demon to crash to the floor one last time. Then she crawled slowly but surely until she was next to his neck. She flopped herself on top of the MagiClone (patent pending) to pin him.

"Once again, you need to be corrected," said Python. "It is I who will finish you off!" With that, she pulled the pin out of his neck. "One quick question before you go **poof**, when is this gravity spell going to wear off?"

"Sooner than you think," he said. Then, **POOF!** Demon disappeared, leaving behind a strange brown cloud of powder.

"Mmm! Smells like nutmeg," Python noticed. She also noticed that she was suddenly lighter. The spell must have worn off when Demon went **poof.** It felt funny. "Whoa! Okay, now to get my sword back."

She walked back to the now trashed sports store where Demon hung Venom. Using the Shadowblade one last time, she cut the rope and let the sword stab itself into the ground. She was just about to pull it out again when she saw a flash of blue go by.

"Huh? I thought Demon was gone. Oh, well, now that I have my sword, taking him down again should be easy." Python stepped out into the hall, blade raised. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a blond person wearing dark blue. She swung her blade with great force.

"VI! IT'S ME!" the figure screamed.

Python stopped short when she saw that this person had no beard. She was two inches away from slicing her own brother, who now was struck with fantastic fear.

"Vi, if this is about me mowing the lawn, I already said I'd do it this weekend!" Rocket mumbled.

"No, Dash, I'm sorry, I've got clones on the brain. So, where's Floodgate? Did you beat her already?"

"Uh, by 'beat' you don't mean 'run away from', do you?"

"Dash!"

"You didn't see her! She uses her powers in spooky-ass ways, man; messes with your mind, dude!"

Python slapped Rocket right across the cheek. "Pull yourself together, Dash! What are you, a super hero or a super pansy?"

Rocket thought about it. "Super pansy!" he said, expecting to get out of it.

"Then you have to get out there and beat this MagiClone (patent pending)!" said Violet.

"Okay, then, um, super hero?"

"Then you have to get out there and fight!"

Rocket saw that he wasn't going to win. "Well, you don't have to tell me twice."

"I know. Apparently, I have to tell you three times. Now, get out there and fight!"

"I'm going, I'm going! Sheesh, you're just like mom!"

(A/N: Okay, I have to stop here. So, was this a good fight, or what? I think so, but then again, I am biased. Please review, I really need the feedback.)


	28. Rocket v Floodgate

Dateline: Wednesday, July 8, 1981, 2:34 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

Rocket knew he had no choice but to face Floodgate. Python had told him that it would be no big deal. _Easy for her to say_, he thought, _she didn't see what this clone is capable of! _

Perhaps I should explain why Rocket ran from his opponent in the first place. Well, like his sister, Rocket actively searched for Floodgate. He found her in the food court. She caught sight of him right away.

"Funny, I was expecting to fight with Liquegirl," she said.

"And I was expecting you to be attractive," Rocket countered. "I guess we're both wrong!"

"Oh, you're going to wish you had never said that, girly man!"

With that, Floodgate reshaped her arms into axes. She chopped a few tables in half to show that she meant business. Then, she formed a shark's head out of her midsection, and with its teeth gnashing, she charged at Rocket. Rocket had never seen anything like this, and it scared him so much, that he almost wet himself. Almost.

So, like any super hero, he did what he does best, which, unfortunately, was running. Alas, Floodgate gave chase. She pursued Rocket in the form of a tidal wave twelve feet high. It was all he could do to escape the crush of contact that would inevitably follow. When Floodgate crashed into the ground, he dashed in a million different directions, trying to lose her. When he did, he ducked into a sporting goods store for safety, which brings us back to where I started.

Anyway, after getting a thorough dressing-down from his big sister, Rocket stepped back into the hall to face Floodgate.

"Remember, Dash," Python called out, "every villain has a weakness! Find it and exploit it!"

"Gotcha!" Rocket turned on his heels and saw his opponent two inches from his face. She snarled like an angry pit bull, and he almost lost his nerve. Again, I say, almost. "Whoo!" he said. "Ma'am, a Tic Tac would not kill you!" In retrospect, that probably wasn't the smartest thing for him to say, as it only made Floodgate angrier.

She morphed her hands into curved blades like scythes and swung at Rocket. But she didn't anticipate that his super-speed also begot lightning-quick reflexes. Rocket ducked and dodged every last one of her slashes.

"Can't you just stay still?" Floodgate growled.

"Yes, I could. I just don't want to. If you don't like it, then bite me!"

"Saaaaay! Now there's an idea!" Floodgate reshaped her midriff into the shape of a wolf's head, like that guy from that _Electra_ movie. Rocket recoiled, but he didn't lose his cool. She caused the wolf to make convincing barking noises. Rocket delivered a swift kick to the wolf's nose. He could have sworn he heard bone cracking as he did. Floodgate was sent spinning, and landed on the ground with a sickening _splat._

Rocket grunted with satisfaction. But, his happiness did not last very long. The MagiClone (patent pending) got up.

"All right, punk, this is the part where I destroy you!"

Rocket wasn't fazed. "You can't destroy what you can't catch!" he teased. With that, he took off running. The evil clone ran after him, until she heard his voice behind her. "Yoo-hoo!" he said. Floodgate spun on her heels and ran the other way. Then… "I'm over here, doofus!" She ran to her left. "Are you leaving already?" She ran to the right. This went on for quite some time, despite the many desperate pleas of the part of Floodgate for Rocket to "quit messing my head! You're giving me a headache!"

Finally, dizzy, frustrated, and drained of just about all her energy, the evil MagiClone (patent pending) collapsed onto a bench. "I was not artificially produced for this kind of aggravation," she moaned to nobody in particular. Just then, Rocket zipped up next to her.

"Unfortunately, I have it on good authority that you _were_, in fact, produced for just this kind of aggravation," he said. "That is your only purpose in your life. Sucks, huh? If you want, I could bring your life to a painless end. I bet you'd like that. A nice little…hulahk!"

That 'hulahk' was Rocket's windpipe getting pinched shut, when Floodgate lifted her hand and grabbed him in a chokehold. Suddenly, she felt strong enough to take him out for good. Rocket felt, eh, not so much. He tried to pull the clone's arm away from his neck, but she had made it intangible while still holding on tightly. An evil grin creeped its way across her face.

"Always attack when they're babbling about nothing," she said. "One hundred superheroes can't be wrong, right?"

Rocket kept trying to get Floodgate to loosen her grip on his neck, but she kept liquefying her hand away. In that moment, he had an idea. He lifted his feet, putting all of his weight in her hand. He knew that while her hand was liquid, it couldn't hold his weight. (She probably couldn't hold his weight anyway, but that's beside the point.) He slid out of her grip, just like he planned. What he didn't plan on doing was landing on his house key, but he did. Ignoring the searing pain in his backside, Rocket got up and assumed a boxing stance.

"I promised myself I wasn't going to use my magic option," Floodgate said, "but you've left me no choice!"

"Magic option?" Rocket asked.

"SNAILIUS!" she screamed, pointing. Rocket was thrown backwards when a burst of yellow light struck him. He got up and tried to rush her at super-speed. But when he ran as fast as he could, he found that he ran much more slowly than usual.

"What the hell have you done to me?" he demanded.

"Oh, nothing, just a little spell I learned from my master, the Witch Queen," she explained. "It makes a normal person move no faster than a snail, but on a speedster like yourself, all it does is reduce your speed to a more tolerable level. Now that you're on a speed limit, this will finally be a fair fight, and at last I will…" She never finished. Rocket, even at this reduced speed, managed to punch her unexpectedly.

"Well, you disgusting slime," he said, "if it's a fair fight you want, then a fair fight you shall get!" Rocket resumed the boxing stance and dared Floodgate to make the first move. She charged at him and swung a crosscut, which he blocked. Rocket delivered a jab right to her face. His fist went through her skull like Jell-O.

"Hey!" Rocket protested. "I thought you wanted a fair fight!"  
"This is a fair fight! Well, fair for me, anyway!" answered Floodgate.

"So, even when you say you're fighting fair, you're really cheating, huh? Well, there's a big surprise!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm bad. Bad MagiClone (patent pending)! Now, let's end this!"

"Mighty big words coming from someone who's ticklish!" Rocket teased.

"That sounds like fighting dirty to me. You'll never do it, no super hero would!"

"Never say 'never', fool!" Rocket tackled the evil clone and started tickling her. She began to laugh uncontrollably. She tried to escape by liquefying, but he wouldn't let up. Floodgate tried to call for help, but between laughing and gasping for air, she just couldn't. At one point, she rolled over onto her stomach. That's when Rocket caught sight of the pin in her neck. He stopped tickling her long enough to pull the pin out.

"Oh, damn it all to hell!" Floodgate moaned. "You know, by destroying me, you're destroying Liquegirl in effigy. That can't be could for your marriage, can it?"

"Save your breath, MagiClone (patent pending). I love my wife, and there's nothing you can do about that!"

"You want a…" **POOF! **Floodgate was gone. Nothing left but the unique odor of nutmeg.

After this, Python stepped out to congratulate her brother on a well-fought battle. "How did you know that she was ticklish?"

"I didn't know for sure, but I figured if Kim was ticklish, she would be also. Looks like I was lucky this time, huh?"

"Hmm, guess so."

"So, when is this stupid snail spell supposed to wear off?"

"I think it wore off when Floodgate went **poof**."

"All right. So, what do we do now?"

No sooner did Rocket say that than the radio crackled to life. "Blind Tracy calling, in serious need of back-up here! YAAHH! QUICKLY, PLEASE!"

"This is Python, hang in there, Trace, we're coming! Over and out!"

"Why are my questions always answered by external events?" Rocket asked nobody.

(A/N: I'll be getting out of school soon, so you guys can expect more frequent updates! Until I see you again, review!)


	29. Blind Tracy v Heart Attack

Dateline: Wednesday, July 8, 1981, 2:23 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

While Python was still dealing with her assigned MagiClone (patent pending), Blind Tracy was still looking for Heart Attack. Of course, it's a little difficult to look for someone when you're blind. The only way she could tell a person's location was by telepathy. The only question was, what would a member of Omega Force be thinking? Maybe thoughts of destroying Alpha Force? Just behind her, she heard thoughts along those lines, as well as _'Man, this is one tasty burger!'_ She spun around. Was it Heart Attack?

"Funny," said a female voice. "I was expecting to fight with Liquegirl."

"And I was expecting you to be attractive." That was Rocket! The girl must have been Floodgate. Okay, wrong clone, moving on.

Blind Tracy meandered down a different hall. She picked up traces of another person thinking about destroying Alpha Force. She wasn't sure if it was Heart Attack, so she approached the person with caution. As she tiptoed forward, she picked up signals that the clone noticed her.

"Well, look who it is," said a male voice with a British accent. Yep, this was Heart Attack all right. Blind Tracy struck a fighting stance.

"Resistance is futile, MagiClone…I mean, MagiClone (patent pending)…you will be annihilated!"

Heart Attack laughed at that idea. "You? A blind girl? You think you can stop me? I have more powers than Meta Man did! What makes you think you will triumph?"

As you can imagine, Blind Tracy was more than a little upset at these comments. Like her teammates suggested, she grabbed Heart Attack in a telekinetic chokehold, a la Darth Vader. She could feel him struggle against her power, but she didn't let up for a microsecond.

"I pity the fool who doesn't know how to talk to a lady!" she spat at him.

"Who are you supposed to be impersonating?" he asked, still choking, "Darth Vader or Mr. T?" That only made her more upset, so she tightened her grip.

Blind Tracy felt such a surge of power wash over herself. She felt invincible. But being in this intense situation made Heart Attack's heart race, thereby activating his powers. Thinking quickly, he shot a bolt of lightning from his fingertips, aiming directly at his opponent's lungs. Blind Tracy fell over backward, breaking her concentration and thus releasing her captive.

"See? I told you that you were no match for me!"

Blind Tracy was disappointed in herself. She had dropped her guard, and opened the door for her opponent to strike. She picked herself up. Just then, she felt the temperature rise. Then she remembered that Heartthrob had pyrokinetic powers, so his clone would have them too! She ducked just as the flames sailed over her auburn hair.

"Hey, be careful with that fire, now! It's going to take me a week to fix my hair after the last fire, and I don't need you making it worse!"

"Oh, don't like fire, huh? Well, how about some water, then?" Heart Attack brought his hands together at the wrists, and a surge of water shot out of his hands. When it hit Blind Tracy, she put her hands up and tried to block it, but invariably, she got totally soaked. She was so surprised by this attack, that it took her a moment to realize that it was just harmless.

"Ha!" she laughed. "And what exactly were you planing to accomplish with that, hmm?"

"Nothing," she heard Heart Attack say from behind her. "I was just trying to distract you!" From his thought patterns, she could tell he was about to punch her so hard, she would go sailing and crash into a wall. She tried to avoid it, but Heart Attack was much quicker. Because of his super-strength, the MagiClone's (patent pending) punch did in fact send the sightless super careening down the hall at top speed.

At this point, Blind Tracy thought heard her own voice over the radio. She couldn't make it out, because was frightened beyond belief. (Well, you would be too, if you were hurling toward a wall!)

Anyway, on a reflex, she telekinetically grabbed a hold of her own body and pulled it in the opposite direction. As she slowed to a stop, she released herself from this finger-less grip and safely set foot on the floor. She felt so relieved, but she was also surprised at herself. She had thought for years that she wasn't able do what she just did. Blind Tracy paused for a moment to think about this.

Not the brightest idea she ever had, because now Heart Attack was charging at her like a bull. Thankfully, she felt his presence just in time. At the last second before collision, she lifted herself up and let her opponent run right under her. He crashed into a wall, hard. Blind Tracy set herself down. Then, just as he was getting up, she grabbed his hand with her mind, molded it into a fist, and used it to hit him.

"Stop hitting yourself!" she said, smiling. She made him punch himself again, and again, each time saying "Stop hitting yourself!"

"I hate comedy fights," Heart Attack mumbled between punches.

After about a minute, the MagiClone (patent pending) started to struggle with this telekinetic immaturity. He somehow managed to escape her finger-less grip. Then, with every last one of his nerves frayed, Heart Attack just couldn't take it anymore. He saw Blind Tracy charging him. Without warning, he stuck out his hand and cast his one spell.

"GLITCHER!" he screamed as loud as he could. Suddenly, Blind Tracy stopped dead in her tracks. She tried to move, but nothing she tried worked. She had been completely immobilized by the spell. Her heart sank.

Heart Attack laughed a satisfied evil laugh. Then, sure that his victory was inevitable, he proceeded to monologue about the perfection of magic, the history of magic, yadda yadda yadda, in short, boring our sightless super to death. While he continued to babble, Blind Tracy had an idea.

_I wonder if I could still use my powers while I have this hex on me?_

She tried to read Heart Attack's mind, just to make sure. The signal was just as strong as it always was. Excellent! She still had a chance. All she had to do was pull the pin from his neck to win the fight. It wasn't easy to get a hold on it though, what with his pacing back and forth.

Finally, she managed to grab the pin. A quick yank of it brought Heart Attack's babbling to a stop.

"Oh, crumpets!" he muttered. "Well, maybe I can still finish you before the magic wears off. Lightning! I said lightning! Why won't this work? It worked befo…" **POOF!** As Heart Attack disappeared, the spell on Blind Tracy wore off.

"Whoa!" she said to nobody. "Feels so good to move again. _Sniff, sniff_, mm, nutmeg. Nice."

At that moment, Python and Rocket showed up, answering a distress call they both thought she had made.

"All right, you MagiClone (patent pending) slime!" Rocket roared, "Someone needs to teach you not to pick on blind supers! Hey, where is he?"

"I got rid of him," Blind Tracy explained.

"You did?" asked Python.

"Yeah, why is that such a surprise to you? Oh, I get it; it's because I'm blind, huh? Just because I can't see, you think I need help beating up bad guys?"

"No, we just got a call on the radio saying you needed back up."

"Yeah, I heard that call too," she said, suddenly remembering, "but it wasn't me."

"But if that wasn't you, then…oh, my God! It must have been your clone!"

Rocket tensed. "Come on, my wife could be in danger!"

The other two followed him as closely as they could.

_I just hope José's doing okay,_ thought Python.

(A/N: Sorry if this chapter isn't up to Parr with the rest of the story. ;-) Somehow, Ashley's a hard character to write fights for; I don't know why, but she is. Let me know what you think so far, okay? If it's too soap opera, or too Seinfeld, or just too lame, let me know so I can fix it! Until next time…)


	30. Heartthrob v Viper

Dateline: Wednesday, July 8, 1981, 2:20 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

Scanning the ground from his second story viewpoint, Heartthrob saw everything that was going on downstairs. He saw Python's little tussle with Demon. She handled him like a ninja. And she looked pretty good doing it too. Edna was right; the tight-fitting cut of her super-suit made her look extra-sexy. Heartthrob could feel his heartbeat accelerating. This was just what he needed, he decided. At that moment, he wasn't even thinking about looking for Viper. He was on cloud nine, falling madly on love with his girlfriend all over again.

"Oh, man, would you look at that fat cow?" said a female voice to our hero's right. "Honestly, how could a goddess like myself have the same genetic makeup as her?" Heartthrob turned and saw Viper, pointing at the woman he loved. He wasn't surprised that she was bad-mouthing her genetic "sister". Still, it irked him that anyone would dare say an unkind word about that gorgeous creature.

"Hey!" he shouted. "That 'fat cow', as you call her, is twice the woman you'll never be! Looking at you, I also cannot believe that you have the same genes, but for an entirely different reason!"

"Oh, you poor, misguided soul! You'll change your tune when I destroy her in combat!" She turned and walked toward the stairs

_Uh, oh, this wasn't part of the plan,_ he thought. _How can I make her fight me?_

"Why are you going to fight her?" Heartthrob called out. "What are you, scared, MagiClone (patent pending)?"

Viper spun on her heels. "Scared of what?"

"Of me! You'd rather fight a little girl than a real man like me? You know what that makes you? Chicken!"

"I don't have time for this," she muttered as she went back to the stairs.

Heartthrob wasn't deterred. He stuck his hands up his armpits and started to cluck like a chicken. His plan was to shame her into a fight.

The clone stopped just short of the top step and turned to face him once more. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not a human. I don't respond to your childish name-calling, and I am not going to fight you!" She took two steps down the stairs. Heartthrob kept on clucking. "Did you not hear me? Do you not understand? Clucking at me isn't going to do anything, and I'm NOT going to fight you!" She kept walking downstairs, but Heartthrob didn't stop.

Just then, Viper dashed back upstairs. "All right, if you want me to fight you so bad, I'll fight you!"

_Works every time,_ he thought to himself. "Bring it on!"

Viper grinned slyly just before she turned invisible. Heartthrob took a step back; trying to remember what Dash had taught him about fighting invisible people.

_Let them attack first, so you can pinpoint their location._ He closed his eyes and waited. A second later, he felt two large hands on his neck, trying to choke him. He didn't lose his cool. He grabbed Viper by the wrists and flung her over his head. Panicking, she reappeared and cast a force field to soften the coming impact. She bounced back and faced him once more.

"Oh, a wise guy, huh?" she said. "I have one word for you, eat my force!" Viper threw a force field right in Heartthrob's face. He flew backwards and hit his head against the wall. It didn't hurt him that much. But when he fell from that height, he landed flat on his face. That did hurt.

When he stood up, he noticed that he had something rock-like in his mouth. He spit it out into his hand and saw that it was white, and it was covered in something red like blood.

"Wow, it's taken twenty years, but I think I just lost my last baby tooth! Thanks!"

"Uh…happy to oblige, I guess." Viper was thrown by this little curveball of Heartthrob's. Quickly, she shook it off and got back into the zone.

She turned invisible once more. Heartthrob closed his eyes. Dash had taught him that keeping your eyes closed helps you focus on other the cues needed to locate invisible enemies. To his left, he heard the loud steps of Viper's boots. With a little concentration, he whipped up a tiny windstorm in that general area. The only clue he had that his attack was successful was the faint screaming of a feminine voice.

He opened his eyes and saw the evil MagiClone (patent pending) being flung about like a rag doll. Heartthrob put his hands down, worried that this hurricane might be overkill. He watched in fearful tension as Viper plummeted through the open hole in the ceiling to the ground floor below. Heartthrob leapt over the railing, thinking it would be the fastest way down. It was the fastest way down, but it wasn't until he was halfway down that he remembered his imperfect balance, and that he would likely land on his face. As a matter of fact, he did.

"Ow!"

Viper, who had just recovered from her fall, saw this, and couldn't help but laugh at his expense. In a fit of rage, Heartthrob shot a bolt of lightning at her. She blocked his attack with a force field. This made him more upset. Then he remembered one of his other powers. Quickly, he made seven copies of himself. Viper's eyes widened when she saw that she had eight supers to contend with.

"Damn, dude! How many powers do you have?"

"Enough," said all eight of him.

_Not for long,_ she thought. "PARTIUS!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, pointing right at the original's heart. Suddenly, the other seven vanished, like they were never there. Heartthrob was a little confused, and demanded to know what was going on.

"Like it? My master granted me enough magic for one spell, so I used it on this one. I know the secret of your powers, Heartthrob: that they only work when your pulse is 100 bpm or more. So, I put a hex on your heart, keeping your pulse a constant 99 bpm!"

Heartthrob was scared. He had never in his entire career had to fight someone without the aid of his many powers. In his panic, he was unable to think of any action to take. So he stood there, paralyzed by his own fear.

Realizing that she had struck a frayed nerve, Viper sprung into action. She turned invisible and quietly grabbed him by the throat one more time. The sensation of being choked snapped Heartthrob out of his little funk. He grabbed at Viper and proceeded to wrestle with her for quite some time. This is when the radio crackled with the distress message that we now know was a fake. But like Blind Tracy, Heartthrob was too busy to make it out.

Anyway, the two of them were grabbing, scratching, pushing, pulling, shoving, biting, you get the idea. Neither one was making much progress outdoing the other, until they came to the fountain in the center of the mall. Heartthrob was so busy fighting with Viper that he didn't look where he was going, and he tripped on the short stone wall of the fountain, tumbling into the water and taking the MagiClone (patent pending) with him.

_SPLASH!_

"Help!" Viper screamed. Like Python, she was afraid of water too. In her fear, she stopped being invisible. "Help! Someone help me! I can't swim!"

"The water's not even a foot deep," Heartthrob pointed out.

"Huh? Oh. That was stupid, why would I be afraid of water?"

Just then, Heartthrob had an idea. He grabbed a handful of water and flicked it in her face.

"YAHH!" Viper screamed. "Cold and wet, cold and wet!"

Heartthrob jumped on her, grabbed her head, and forced it underwater. She screamed in protest and struggled against him, but it was no use. When he brought her back up for air, she turned to him in contempt.

"What did you do that for?" she asked.

"That was for making my girlfriend look bad on TV," he said, "and this is for taking my powers!" He dunked her once more. When he brought her back up, he added, "and this, is so you'll never do anything like that ever again!" He pulled the pin from the back of her neck.

"You big bully!" Those were the last words Viper spoke before **poof,** and she was gone forever.

Even though there was nothing left of that MagiClone (patent pending) but the smell of nutmeg, those words stuck to Heartthrob like glue. Because, even though she was evil, Viper was right. He had stooped to her level. He felt so guilty at taking advantage of her fear of water, he almost cried. Then he thought to himself, he did what he had to do. He got rid of her, right? That's what matters, right? He needed to think about this for a while.

"If anyone needs me, I'll be in the car, okay?" he said into his radio.

"Roger," said Python.

He dragged his feet sheepishly while walking back to the car.

(A/N: Well, how was that? Please tell me the truth, if you don't like it, I can fix it, okay? Just don't give me the silent treatment, please! I need to know that people read my story and care! Please review!)


	31. Liquegirl v Blind Fate

Dateline: Wednesday, July 8, 1981, 2:10 PM, Pacific Daylight Time

Unlike the other members of her team, Liquegirl didn't need to waste extra time looking for her assigned clone. As soon as she said "Roger," she stood up and saw Blind Fate staring her in the face.

"So, Miss Blind Psychic, let's see how you deal with…"

"I'm not Blind Tracy, I'm Liquegirl," she interrupted.

"Beg your pardon?"

Liquegirl repeated herself.

"Then where's Blind Tracy?"

"Dealing with another one of your friends. I'm the one who's supposed to fight with you."

"But, ugh! This isn't the way it's done! I'm supposed to fight my counterpart, and you're supposed to fight yours!"

"Well what's the matter with fighting me?"

"Nothing, it's just…"

"What, am I not good enough for you? Is that it?"

"No…"

"Just because my powers aren't psionic, I'm nothing but trailer trash? Is that what you think? Huh? Huh? Do you? Do you?"

"STOP IT!"

Liquegirl couldn't help but laugh. She loved messing with villain's heads.

"All right, okay, wise guy! Have it your way!" Blind Fate grabbed Liquegirl by the throat. Not with her mind, but with her hands. But, as you might expect, she squished her way out of this tight spot.

"C'mon, you'll have to do better than that!" she goaded.

Suddenly, she felt an invisible force pressing on her skull, and deduced it was the MagiClone (patent pending) using her telekinesis. Liquegirl engaged her power to separate her head from the rest of her body, expecting to get away from this finger-less grip. But instead, Blind Fate lifted her head to an uncomfortable height, and spun it like a top.

"Whoa! Stop the ride, I want to get off!" she complained. No sooner did she say that than the evil blind psychic dropped her like a hot potato. Her head landed with a sickening _splat. _Liquegirl groaned in a combination of pain and disorientation. Imagine being punched repeatedly while on one of those spinning rides at the amusement park. Yeah, that's kinda how she felt.

Just as soon as she was down, Blind Fate lifted her again. "Okay," Liquegirl said outloud; "enough is enough!" Somehow, some way, I can't explain it for the life of me; she willed her headless body to engage her captor in combat. She threw a few punches, delivered a few kicks, but all she managed to do was distract her. But while distracted, Blind Fate dropped Liquegirl's head, and it fell right into her own arms.

"Wow, how lucky was that?" she said as she put herself back together.

Liquegirl struck a fighting pose, and dared her opponent to attack. Blind Fate shook her head, and then gestured than she make the first move.

"No, you can't do that!" said Liquegirl. "I said you attack first, so you have to attack first!"

"Says who?"  
"Those are the rules of engagement! You can't tell me to attack first if I've already told you to do so!"

"Why not?"

"Because then, we wouldn't be fighting, we would just be arguing over who should attack first!"

"Isn't that what we're doing now?" Blind Fate pointed out.

"We wouldn't be if you would just attack!"

"Okay, fine, I'll go first!"

Blind Fate lifted her hands and both she and Liquegirl rose up to the ceiling.

"Whoa! High, very high!" Liquegirl said with a nervous twinge in her voice.

"What? You're not afraid of heights, are you?"

"Me, scared of heights? No!"

"Good, because the rest of this fight will take place up here, and if you do succeed, you will plummet to your death!"

"So? I'll just call in the rest of my team and they'll catch me!"

"Oh, I'll take care of that! MUTIUS!" Blind Fate pointed her finger at Liquegirl and a strange blue light shot out of it. It hit her in the jaw. "This spell I just cast on you will quiet your voice, so that you can't call on your super friends to come and save you! And, to make sure they aren't around to help you out…"

Liquegirl felt a tug at her wrist. She could see the evil MagiClone's (patent pending) plan: to put in a phony distress call so the others would be distracted. "Blind Tracy calling, in serious need of back-up here! YAAHH! QUICKLY, PLEASE!"

"This is Python, hang in there, Trace, we're on our way. Over and out!"

"Ha!" Blind Fate laughed in Liquegirl's face. "What are you going to do now?"

Now our super squishy hero was super squishy pissed. She tried to throw a punch, but just before it connected, she was telekinetically pulled away from her target. She attacked again, but once again, she was foiled. Then the clone shoved her against the wall. Any other super probably could have escaped by now, but Liquegirl was still new at this. To her, this seemed like an impenetrable prison. She needed some time to think. And it wasn't easy, because her head still hurt a little.

_What would Elastigirl do?_

"What indeed?" She grunted at her captor. "Oh, I'm sorry, were you having a private conversation with yourself?"

Just then, Liquegirl had a brilliant plan. She expanded her right arm, making it thinner as she went. The MagiClone (patent pending) tried to contain the growing arm, but she couldn't do it, because her powers were engaged with holding the both of them aloft. As soon as her arm was long enough, she delivered a solid right hook to her skull. Multiple times. Blind Fate was out cold in no time.

When her enemy went unconscious, the invisible force holding both of them up disappeared, just like Liquegirl wanted. She knew that she could walk away from a fifty-foot fall without so much as a bruise. Blind Fate, eh, not so much. As one might expect, both women hit the ground at the same time. The sudden impact of flesh against linoleum jarred Blind Fate awake. She screamed. How could she not?

Liquegirl sloshed back into a human shape and walked over to where her enemy had landed. She had three of her limbs bent backwards, clearly broken. It would cause one pain just to look at it. Liquegirl pulled of her glasses and rubbed her eyes. The sight was that shocking.

"Ohhhhh," the clone moaned. "I'm feeling a little clobbered."

Liquegirl bent down and reached for the pin that would annihilate the evil copycat and remove the silence spell from her mouth. Seeing this, Blind Fate stopped her with her one good arm.

"I know you want to," she said, "but I have to tell you something first. Two things, actually.

"First, don't worry about that silence spell, it will wear off when I disappear. Second, not only did I get your friend's powers when I was created, but I also got all her memories too. As it turns out, Ashley Cohen is secretly in love with your husband.

"Okay, that's all I had to say. Go ahead and pull the pin."

Liquegirl did. She noticed that in the MagiClone's (patent still pending) last few seconds alive, she had an odd look of peace on her face. Blind Fate was smiling when she went **poof**. Nothing was left but brown powder. Liquegirl sniffed it.

"Nutmeg," she observed. "Hey, I can speak again! She was telling the truth about that. Does that mean she was telling the truth about Ashley?" She didn't want to believe that. Ashley was her friend, like the little sister she never had. But if she did have a crush on Dash, it could ruin their friendship, or worse, her marriage. Liquegirl decided she really needed to talk with her. Speak of the devil, here she comes now, with Python and Rocket in tow.

"Oh, honey, thank heavens you're okay!" Rocket said, running to her. "I was so worried about you!"

"You were? Why?"

Python explained how they found out that the distress call was a fake.

"Wow, I guess I underestimated you guys. I thought I was doomed!"

"And just what does that mean?" asked Blind Tracy.

"Nothing, I…you know what, forget I said anything, okay? Where's José?"

"If anyone needs me, I'll be in the car, okay?" Heartthrob said over the radio.

"Roger," Python said back. "I guess our work here is done. Let's go home."

As the rest of the team slowly walked back to the car, Liquegirl stopped Blind Tracy briefly.

"Ashley," she said, "you and I need to talk when we get home."

Thanks to her telepathy, Blind Tracy knew what this was about already.

_I think I'm in trouble, _she thought.

(A/N: Well, Omega Force has been defeated. But don't think the story's stopping now! I told you, it's going to be forty chapters. And you aren't going to believe what I have planned for the ending. I'll give you a hint; it has nothing to do with Harriet Kriznek. She comes near the end, but not at the end. Stay tuned! Oh, and please review!)


	32. The Veil of Secrecy is Torn

Dateline: Wednesday, July 8, 1981, 3:52 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

Ashley could feel every nerve in her body pulsating with electricity. She wasn't exactly looking forward to her "calm and rational" conversation with Kim. When your best friend finds out you're in love with her husband, calm and rational should be the last thing on her mind. Her mind snapped back to that trip to the principal's office that one time in elementary school when she got in trouble for using her powers. The only difference between then and now was that Billy Krendall was totally asking for it.

Presently, Kim calmly strolled into the living room and sat down next to Ashley. Ashley tried using her telepathy to find out what Kim was feeling at the time, but she couldn't find anything.

"Before I say anything," Kim began, "I want you to know that I consider you one of my closest friends, and I don't want this little, uh, situation to jeopardize that. So, just before I destroyed your clone, she told me that she had all of your memory. And she told me that you have an infatuation with Dash."

"No, of course not! I would never have an infatuation with Dash! I wouldn't have an infatuation with anyone! Wait, what's an infatuation?"

"It means a crush."

"Oh, well, in that case, yes, I do."

Kim said nothing. Ashley could sense her anger building up, and that it was all Kim could do to keep from attacking her.

"Kimmy, I know you're upset…"

"Of course you know, you're the cause of my grief, you home wrecking tramp!" Kim gasped and covered her mouth. She couldn't believe what she just said. "I'm sorry, Ashley, I didn't mean it!"

"No, you did. You meant every word of it. You didn't want to say it that way, because you didn't want to hurt me."

Kim was astonished. "Okay, seriously, you have to start warning me before your go poking through my mind."

"Kim, this is exactly why I didn't want you to find out about this. I didn't want you to be angry with me over some man, because you're the first real friend I've had in a long time."

"Well, I appreciate the sentiment, but you couldn't expect to keep this from me forever, could you?"

"I was planning to tell Dash myself, when things settled down, and then have him tell you. That's what José and Violet said I should do, but then…"

"Wait a minute," Kim interrupted, "José and Violet know about this too?"

"Yeah, José sort of figured it out, somehow, and Vi, well she dragged it out of me."

"Right. Well, I don't think Dash needs to know about your crush on him."

This surprised Ashley to say the least. "Why not?"

"Because if he did, it will put a strain on my relationship with him. Even if he and I live together happily for many years, he's always going to be thinking about what might have been."

"True, but won't you always be thinking about that too, now that you know?"

"Yes. But it's too late for me."

Ashley paused for a moment. "Kim, you're a very good friend, and I don't want to hurt you. So I will try to stay away from your husband and not interfere with your marriage. My feelings for Dash are probably just superficial anyway. But you really love him, and I can see that. And he loves you too. So I wish you two all the best."

Kim breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you," she said. Then, for the first time since they met, Ashley removed her sunglasses. Kim could see her green eyes welling up with tears. She used her telekinesis to grab a tissue from the other room, then dried her eyes manually. "Ashley, do you want to…"

"I just need to be alone for a moment," Ashley said sobbing. Then she ran off to her room and shut the door behind her.

Kim was glad that was over, but she still had a bone to pick with Violet and José. She was so furious with those two for interfering with her marriage. With Violet back at her desk downtown, she sought out the Mexican. Yes, she was upset, and she did make it apparent, but don't assume that she turned the house upside-down looking for José in a fit of fury. No, she turned the house more of a sideways direction. Anyway, she found the one she was looking for in the kitchen, eating of all things.

"You've got a lot of nerve, you big meddling busybody!" she spat in his face.

"Chill out, Kim," he answered. "So what if I ate your tuna sandwich? We've got plenty more in the fridge!"

"This isn't about the sandwich, José, this is about you messing with my romance! And besides, that wasn't my sandwich, it was Vi's!"

"Oh. Wait, what did I do to mess up your romance?"

"Weren't you the one who told Ashley that she should tell Dashell about her feelings?"

"Oh, so you found out about that, did you?"

"Answer the question!" Kim demanded.

"Yeah, I did tell Ashley that she should talk to Dash about this."

"And why did you tell her that?"

"I figured if Dash let her down himself, she might get over her crush on him."

"So, you figured that Dash would break Ashley's heart, because he's vindictive and cruel?"

"No, that's not it at all, uh…"

"Then what? Were you trying to break us up?"

"NO!"

"Then why would you think it would be smart for Ashley to tell Dash about her feelings, huh?"

"I was counting on his love for you to help him resist the temptation!"

That last statement struck Kimberly mute, like the curse that was on her not too long ago. She needed a little time to process this before responding. Then…

"José, I know you meant well, but your idea sucks!"

"Huh?"

"I know Dash very well, and he's not the kind of person who can resist temptation easily. If Ashley came on to him, he'd crack like a clay pot. Then he and I would be arguing non-stop, and our relationship would go down the crapper, yadda yadda yadda. And I don't want us to 'yadda yadda yadda', okay?"

José was a little confused. "What's the 'yadda yadda' supposed to be?"

"If I wanted you to know, I wouldn't have said 'yadda yadda'. Now, I want you to promise me you're not going to tell my husband about this!"

"About what?" said a male voice behind her. Kim was shocked, because she recognized that voice. She spun around and saw Dash staring at her.

"Uh, how long have you been there, honey?"

"Long enough to know about Ashley's crush on me," he said somberly.

"Oh," said José, "I just remembered, I need to be anywhere but here!" He took off running.

"Kim, honey, can we talk about this?" Dash said motioning that they should sit at the dinning room table.

"I think I'm all out of talk, Dash," she said sitting.

"I know what you were trying to do, and I appreciate that you care so much about us…"

"I smell a 'but' coming."

"…But, I'm offended that you think I'm that susceptible to temptation."

"Oh, come on, I've seen you buy and eat chocolate when you weren't even hungry!"

"So? With candy, it's different; the damage done can be repaired with a little exercise. Of course I know better that to cheat on you! I may not know a lot of things, but at least I know that!"

"You're right. I should have known that you wouldn't betray me."  
"So why did you feel the need to keep this from me?"

"I don't know, maybe because Ashley's been living with you longer than I have?"

"So, you think I would just drop you like yesterday's trash for some blind girl who fights with me on a regular basis, because I'm vindictive and cruel, like you said?"

"Dash, please don't do this to me! I feel bad enough already. I'm sorry I didn't trust you to be faithful to me."

"I forgive you. But you need to know this; there are going to be many people who will have crushes on not just me, but you too. We're superheroes, and that's just part of the job. If this marriage is going to work, we're going to have to trust each other, and not get upset over every superficial thing."

Kim sighed. "You're right. Hey, how'd you get to know so much about marriage?"

"I read a few of your self-help books one day when there was nothing good on TV."

She smirked. "It's nice to see you reading for a change, dear."

"Yeah. Now, where's Ashley?"

"In her room, crying. She said she needed to be alone."

Dash made a noncommittal grunt, then made his way to the refrigerator.

"Hey, what happened to Vi's leftover tuna sandwich? I was going to have that for a midnight snack! Why can't people learn to respect other's property?"

(A/N: For those of you keeping score, now everyone on the team knows about Ashley's crush on Dash, including Dash, who by the way, _doesn't_ know that Violet knows. I'm such a girly man, or am I just a geek? I never can tell. Anyway, that's enough girl talk to last us a month and a half. I'll try to pick the action up again in Chapter 33. Until next time, review!)


	33. Loren Spills His Guts

Dateline: Wednesday, July 8, 1981, 5:13 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

"Whew!" Violet sighed as she stepped in the door. "I think I did more stuff today than most people do all week! Between the surgery, and the fighting, and…" She noticed the house was unusually quiet. "Hey, Kim! Did something happen here that I missed?"

"Yes," she answered, "and be glad that you missed it. For the past hour, it's been like All My Children in here. Long story short, all of us know about Ashley's thing for Dash, and that you knew about it since Sunday."

"Right…" Violet said, thinking she was about to get the riot act from Kim. "Anything else I should know about?" She waited for the worst.

"No, nothing vital."

Whew! Close call! Violet was so relived.

"Okay, so where's everyone else?"

"Ashley's in her room crying, José's in the bathroom, and Dash is taking a nap."

"Sounds like a good idea," Violet mused. "I'll be out of consciousness for the next three hours…" The phone rang in the middle of her sentence. "…As soon as I get that," she finished. "Hello?"

"Hey, Python, this is Loren Kriznek."

"Loren, please don't call me that when I'm out of costume!"

"Okay, but I don't know your real name."

"It's Violet. Now, what did you want to talk about?"

"I saw you guys take Omega Force to school this afternoon. Nice job!"

"Yeah, thanks."

"But it occurs to me that you wouldn't have stood a chance if I didn't tip you off about the fail-safe mechanism."

"Maybe so. Yeah, you didn't think to let us know that these guys could use magic, did you? Did you ever think maybe you should have told us about that?"

"I figured you could handle it!"

"Yeah, we might have handled it better if we had known about it!"

"Aren't superheroes supposed to expect the unexpected?"

"You have no idea how much that phrase bugs me, Loren. If I have to hear it one more time…"

"Okay, okay, I get it! You're right, I'm sorry. Anyway, the way I see it, you guys owe me a favor."

"Well, I can't say that I see it that way, but I don't think the team will have any objections. What do you need?"

"I need you to kill my mother," he said very matter-of-factly, the way you or I might say, "You need to take out the trash."

Violet was surprised to say the least. Loren had to know the laws, that if a superhero kills someone while in costume, their hero's license is revoked permanently! Also, if she killed someone in street clothes, they would try her as a civilian, which could lead to life in prison, or worse, death! She knew she had to talk her way out of this somehow.

"Gee, I don't know that I can, I mean, I've been kinda busy lately…"

"Save it," Loren interrupted. "I understand. You can't expect someone to smile and say 'yes, please' when you ask to do something like this."

"Right."

"Anyway, if we make it look like it was all my doing, you guys won't be indicted, and I'll take all the heat. I have no problem with going to prison."

"Then why don't you kill her yourself and leave me…I mean, us…out of it? And why do you want her dead in the first place?" There was silence on the other end for about three minutes.

"It's complicated," was all he said after that.

"Look, I'm tired. Here, talk to Kim, she's smart, maybe she'll understand."

"Who's Kim? Is she your secretary or something?"

Violet was too tired to argue anymore "Yeah, okay, whatever, here she is." She handed Kim the phone and brought her up to speed. Then she went to her bedroom and flopped down on her bed, turning invisible as she landed. (Violet always turns invisible when she goes to bed. It helps her fall asleep.)

Back on the phone, Loren began to tell his sad story…  
"It all started when I was only sixteen years old. My older sister Lee had just finished school, and had made plans to move out and seek her own fortune. My mother had always harbored the delusion that her children would live with her forever. She tried a thousand different guilt-trips to get Lee to stay, but none of them worked. By the time she figured out that she could use magic to make her stay, she was already gainfully employed in South Carolina.

"Not wanting to lose both her children, she then decided once and for all that I wasn't going to leave her. She placed an irrevocable hex on me, so that if I ever moved away and started living on my own, I'd burst into flames. Now, I was perfectly okay with staying at home when I was twenty, but I'm thirty-five now, and enough is enough.

"I'm sure you guys know by now that when a sorcerer is destroyed, all active spells cast by said sorcerer are cancelled. Once an irrevocable hex has been placed, it cannot be retracted, even if the witch who placed it wanted to. So the only way I can escape my mother's iron grip is to kill her. I've tried to do it myself, but her magic is the strongest there is. That's why she's called the Witch Queen.

"Then I had an idea. If I had the powers of superheroes, I might be strong enough to overpower Harriet and destroy her. That's why I started to pursue Alpha Force. But every time I tried to steal your powers, you guys defeated me. Then Herr Cannon came along and stole my magic. But I didn't give up. I still had a plan to destroy my mother."

At this point, Kim spoke up. "You decided to become all buddy-buddy with us, help us out a little, and hope that some day, we'd return the favor and rescue you?"

"Yeah," he said, almost disgusted with himself.

"You're sick!"

"I know."

"So, is there any other reason why we should fight this Witch Queen?"

"As a superhero, aren't you morally obligated to fight against evil, injustice, and oppression?"

Kim said nothing.

"Okay, does the fact that my mother still has your DNA samples and can make a new batch of evil clones anytime she wants change your mind?"

"All right, we'll do it, but let the record show that we're not happy about this!"

"If you succeed, I'll move to Canada. You'll never see or hear from me ever again!"

"Well, why didn't you say so in the first place? In that case, helping you out would be our pleasure!"

"Good to hear."

"But not right now, okay, we're all a little battle weary. Maybe tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure, I've been waiting for my freedom for nineteen years, what's another day?"

"Yeah, that's the spirit. Okay, I'm hanging up now, bye!"

"Bye-bye."

Kim hung up. Just listening to Loren's long-winded chronicle made her tired as well. She dragged her feet to the bedroom she shared with her husband. There she found him sound asleep. Kim snuggled up next to Dash and settled in for what she hoped would be just a quick nap.

(A/N: Okay, I'll stop here for now. Come to think of it, I'm a little sleepy myself. But before I go, there's something I have to tell you. Now, I don't want to sound alarmist, but if you read this story and don't review, you will die! Consider yourself warned.)


	34. Final Preperations are Made

Dateline: Thursday, July 9, 1981, 6:04 AM, Pacific Daylight Time.

But it wasn't just a quick nap. When Kimberly woke up, it was morning.

"Breakfast!" Violet called from the kitchen.

All at once, Kim found herself covered with blankets, and could only deduce that Dash was up and out of bed. It was at this point that she finally noticed that she had slept in her clothes. She got dressed as quickly as she could, then rushed to the dinning room table. But the smell of bacon and eggs brought her to a stop faster than a brick wall. It only took a second for the smell to reach her stomach, causing it to erupt like Mt. St. Helens. Without thinking, she grabbed a handful of bacon and shoved it into her mouth.

"Hey!" José objected. "Save some for the rest of us, why don't you?"

"What?" she said, with her mouth still full, "I'm freaking hungry!"

"Give her a break, you guys," Violet said. "She slept through dinner last night."

"I did? Oh, right, I guess I did."

"So, um, Kim, what did Loren tell you yesterday?"

"Huh?"

"About him wanting us to kill his mother, hello? Where's your brain today?"

"I think a little part of my wife is still in bed," Dash observed.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a little groggy, I get it."

"That wasn't a figure of speech, honey. I think you left your arm in bed."

"Huh?" Kim looked down at her left arm. Sure enough, there was nothing there below the elbow. "Oh, that's perfect! Excuse me while I pull myself together." She stood up and left.

"So, what's this I hear about us killing somebody's mother?" Ashley asked.

Violet relayed what she knew from Loren's call last night. "When I asked why, he said it was complicated, then I handed it to Kim and that was that."

"Do we have to kill her?"

"Ashley, didn't your parents teach you not to whine about doing something?"

"I'm just saying, isn't there a way that we can accomplish what we need to accomplish that, oh, gee, I don't know, doesn't involve murder?"

"God, I hope so," said Violet. "We'll know more as soon as Kim comes back. Speaking of whom…" She gestured toward the hallway where the squishy super was returning to the table.

"Never use your arm for a pillow," she babbled, "especially when it comes off."

"Well?" the others said in unison.

"Well what?"

"Well, what did Loren tell you?"

"Oh, yeah, that, um, something about his big sister, and an irrevocable hex, and moving out of the house, and stuff like that."

"That's it?"

"What? It's early, cut me some slack, jeez!"

"Kim, we kind of need that information!"

"I know, I'm sorry!"

"Um," Ashley perked up, "if Kim doesn't mind, I could search her memory to get more out of her."

Kim was too tired to object. Thanks to Ashley's prodding, the team now knew everything, from why Loren still lives at home when he's thirty five and gainfully employed (albeit in a shameful way), to why he tried to kill the young supers in the first place.

"So, how much of that anti-magic stuff do we have left?" someone asked, I forget who.

"Only a half a can's worth," Violet noted. "We're gonna need to stock up. Look, I have to get to work, so one of you has to lead the rest of the team to Mirage's to get it. Normally, I'd put Kim in charge of that, but I'm afraid to, given her condition…"

"Condition nothing!" Kim interrupted. "All I need is a cup of Java, I'll be fine."

"Rude much?" Violet said. "Don't you know better than to interrupt people?"

"Usually, yes, but like I said, a little coffee, I'll be good as new."

"You better be, for all our sakes. Okay, I'm off, see you all later." Violet grabbed her briefcase and left.

"Wait a minute," José said as soon as she was gone, "if Violet's taking the car, how are we supposed to get to Mirage's place?"

"We take a cab, duh!" Ashley offered.

"But we don't have any money!"

"Vi keeps a little extra cash in the liquor cabinet," Dash pointed out.

"We have liquor?" Kim asked excitedly.

"Kim, how can you be thinking about booze at a time like this?" asked Ashley. "It's not even noon!"

"I think someone better get started on that coffee," said Dash.

"Yes, someone better," said everyone else. Nobody moved.

"Well, don't everyone jump up at once!" Dash said, getting up from the table.

Later that same morning…

Carmen Peña sat in a darkened corner of her living room. When the team entered, all they could see was her shadow.

"I knew you were coming," she said just above a whisper, "before you even left your home."

"Of course you knew," said Kim, "we called and said we were coming."

"You need more of that anti-magic, and you came here because I am the only one who has it for you."

"Again, I told you this on the phone, so cut the mystic sage act already."

"You are upset, because you do not understand what I am doing."

Kim flared her nostrils. "You want a wedgie, Mirage? 'Cause I got no problem with giving you a wedgie."

"All right, all right! Spoil my fun, why don't you?"

Mirage stepped out of the shadows. Up until now, whenever the team (or anyone else, for that matter) had seen the technical guru, she was always wearing a spotless business suit or an elegant gown. You can imagine their surprise when they saw her in an old T-shirt caked in what looked and smelled like mustard, and with more holes in it than Swiss cheese. Also, for the first time in her life, her hair reflected her level of intellect (meaning it was a mess).

Ashley took a big sniff of the air surrounding her, and recoiled. "Whew! When was the last time you showered, woman?"

"Uh, the day before the wedding, I think. I've been a little depressed lately."

"What happened?"

"Nothing, I just, I don't know, I guess I, um, I think I'm having a mid-life crisis."

"Oh, goody gumdrops," Dash mumbled, more irritated than empathetic.

"I used to have an exciting life. Now, almost all I do all day is get up and go to bed! I long for excitement, for meaning, for life!"

"Don't hold your breath," Ashley said. "Excitement is overrated. Some days, I wish I had a normal life, one with peace, quiet, and no super villains out to kill me."

"Hmm, I never thought of it that way before."

"Nobody ever does. But do you feel better?"

"A little bit, yeah. Hey, how'd you know to say exactly what I needed to hear?"

"My mother was a psychoanalyst. She had this guarantee, if she couldn't make you feel better about your life in 15 minutes, you didn't have to pay for your session."

"Really?"

"Nah, I was just messing with you!"

Mirage snickered. "Good one! Well, anyway, I put together a full case of magic-proofer, over on the dining table over there." The team looked over and saw a plain cardboard box. On top of the box were some strange pieces of green cloth. José walked over and held one of them up. It was a glove, with some odd circuitry all over it.

"What's this?" was the question on everyone's mind.

"It's a more portable version of the Transfer of Awesome Gifts system that I put in your car," Mirage explained.

"These gloves have TAG?"

"Yeah, so now you can share your powers more easily. There's one for each of you, they're one size fits all and can be worn on the right or left hand."

"Wow, I'm impressed." Kim said. "But are you sure it works? Have you tested it?"

"I promise. I tested them out on some of my older super pals last week."

"Last week? Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"I didn't want to impose."

"Right," Dash said flatly. "Oh, hey, speaking of things you never told us, we found that self-cleaning feature on the Alphamobile."

"Oh, you did, did you? Well, there happen to be a lot of features on that rattler that you don't know about, and one in particular I hope you never have to know about."

"Yeah, sure, we'll keep that in mind. Well, I guess we'll be off. José, could you get the anti-magic and the TAG gloves."

"Okay, Kim."

"I just hope that the cabbie is still there. Goodbye, Carmen, and good luck!"

"Hey, I'm not the one who has to fight evil on a daily basis! Good luck to you!"

Back at home…

The team was just cleaning up after a hearty lunch when a call came over their radios. It was Violet.

"Guys, just got word that our, um, target, is mobile. I've got the car here; you guys need to find some other way to get moving. Meet me at the corner of 5th Street and Tennessee Avenue, we'll deploy from there. Python out."

Kim looked at the others with confusion. "Is she losing her mind?"

"That's debatable," said Dash.

"No, I mean how does she expect us to get there so fast?"

"Tennessee is just a block from here," José pointed out, "we could just walk there."

"But 5th is more than a mile!" Ashley said. "We'll never make it in time!"

Dash held up one of the TAG gloves. "With my powers, and this new technology, we will!"

"Well, all right, then. Let's suit up and move out!"

(A/N: Sorry, I never intended this chapter to be this long. Anyway, I plan to have the epic struggle with the Witch Queen take up three chapters, so stick with me. And, hey, please tell me how I'm doing! Not getting reviews is driving me bonkers here! And you guys don't want to see me when I'm BONKERS!)


	35. Final Showdown, Part 1

Dateline: Thursday, July 9, 1981, 12:45 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

Python pulled the Alphamobile up next to the curb, facing west on 5th Street. She looked to her left and saw four people running at amazing speed toward her.

"What the…?" She almost fainted when she saw who they were.

"Wow, Dash, that was exhilarating," said Liquegirl, "but let's take a cab next time. I think I got a few bugs in my teeth."

"You'll get used to it," Rocket responded as he threw the extra anti-magic in the trunk. "So, what's the deal, sis?"

"The police just raided Harriet Kriznek's house, and she took off. The report says she's headed west on this street, in a silver BMW with Oregon plates."

"You mean like that?" Heartthrob said pointing. A car fitting Python's description had just sped past them. She floored the accelerator, and the chase was on!

"Um, Vi," Liquegirl said, "I thought we agreed that **_I_** would do the driving?"

"Kimmy, we're in the middle of a high-speed chase! This is not the time to argue over who's driving!"

Just then, they noticed someone sticking their head out the driver's side window of the car in front of them. She was a gray haired woman. She pointed at the car and a blue orb of energy shot from her hand. Python swerved just in time to miss it.

"Okay, clearly this woman means business!" Rocket observed. "So what does this clunker have in the way of weaponry, captain?"

"Let's see here, oil slick? No, that comes out the rear, it's for cars chasing us. Surface-to-air missiles? Yeah, that's not going to help either. Ah, here we go! Hood-mounted machine guns!" Python pressed a white button on the dashboard. Two gun turrets popped out of the car's hood like a jack-in-the-box. A barrage of bullets came forth, causing much damage to the rear of the Beamer, including the obliteration of the rear window.

When Harriet noticed this, well, I don't need to tell you how she felt! Once again, she fired an energy orb at the car chasing her. It bounced off the hood, and sailed upward into oblivion. However, it did fry the Alphamobile's guns.

"Okay, now what?" said Heartthrob.

Just then, the Beamer took a hard left turn, taking out a fire hydrant in the process. Python pulled the wheel to the left to keep up the chase, and rolled right over the urban geyser that Harriet left behind.

"Whoa!" the team cried.

"This is why we wear safety belts, guys," Python said.

Now heading south on Baltic Avenue, the team needed an idea of how to stop that car.

"Hey, Ash," said Rocket, "do you think you can use your telekinesis to blow out her tires?"

"I'll try. Here, hold my shades, I don't want to lose them!" She stuck her head out of the window, and the heavy wind in her face made her shut her eyes on a reflex. She found the right rear tire on the BMW with her artificial touch. Then she used her powers to stop that tire from rotating. The immense friction between tire and road caused it to disintegrate.

"Not our tire, you idiot, her tire!" Python screamed.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry!" Blind Tracy felt like she had failed her team.

"Consider yourself lucky that we have armored tires. Now try again!"

And she did. This time she learned from her mistake. Before blowing the tire, she shook it to make sure it wasn't the Alphamobile's tire. When she didn't feel the car (the one she was in) oscillating, she then ripped the tire into tiny fragments.

"All right! Way to go, Ashley!"

The Beamer dropped and threw sparks for a mile or two. Then, the destroyed tire emitted a blue-green light. When the light disappeared, the tire was whole again.

"Unbe-freaking-lieveable!" Liquegirl said, more angry than awestruck. "This woman it relentless!"

The Beamer made another hard left turn, to head east on 51st Street. The Alphamobile stayed in hot pursuit.

"José," Python ordered, "I need you to TAG up on the car."

Heartthrob did as he was told, then asked, "What are you going to do, boss?"

"I'm going to ram her," she said with infinite calm and cool.

"What are you, crazy?" Blind Tracy asked.

"Crazy like a fox! With the ultra-strong Heartthrob donating his power to the car, we won't take too much damage. The Witch Queen, on the other hand…"

Python stood on the accelerator, and braced herself for the impact.

"Vi, she's turning!" Ashley screamed.

Once again, Harriet Kriznek took a high-velocity left turn onto Virginia Avenue. The team gave chase just as fast.

"Ugh! Doesn't she know better than to take corners to fast?" Python fumed.

"Look who's talking!" said everyone else in union.

"José, get your hand on that console, now!" He did. "Now everyone hang on!" She switched on the rocket engines in the back for a little extra thrust. The car cruised forward, and crashed right into the silver Beamer. The rear bumper (or what was left of it anyway) fell off, and was crushed under the Alphamobile's tires.

At this point, I guess Harriet realized that she couldn't outrun the supers, or shake them off her tail. But she did notice that Python was tailgating. So she slammed on her brakes suddenly, and without warning.

The team didn't notice this until it was too late. The Alphamobile rear-ended the witch's car, causing the former to skid to a stop. The force the red SUV exerted on the silver sedan made the latter slide unexpectedly forward, into an intersection, running a red light. Another car coming the other way like a bat out of hell struck the witch's car violently. That was pretty much the end of the chase.

Hattie's car was junkyard fodder, to put it nicely. The back end had more holes in it than Swiss cheese. The passenger's side door was actually folded inward and bent backward. The engine? It was nowhere to be seen! Thanks to extra safety measures installed by Mirage, the team was unharmed. Their car had a few scratches here and there, but otherwise looked fine.

The supers clambered out of the vehicle to examine the wreck.

"No way she survived that!" Python said. "Looks like our work is done after all."

"I don't think so," Liquegirl said. "You've seen what Herr Cannon could do with Loren's magic. Hers is the most powerful, so maybe she could walk away from this."

Sure enough, Harriet opened her door and stepped out of the car. (Not that it was technically a "car" anymore, but you get what I mean.)

"Dash, please tell me you have the anti-magic ready to go!" Python said.

"Yeah, about that…" Rocket answered.

"What?"

"It's in the trunk, it's ready. HA! I got you, you totally thought I forgot it, ha ha…" And then Rocket saw Python's temple throbbing. "Right, then, I'll go get it." With his super-speed, he had the whole team magic-proofed in about nine seconds.

Unfortunately, it only took eight for the Witch Queen to escape. Python was raging.

"You see what happens when you make jokes at inappropriate times, you blockhead? Thanks to you, we lost her!"

"No, we didn't!" Blind Tracy perked up. "My telepathy tells me that she's heading east from the site of the wreck!"

"Quick, back in the car!" Liquegirl said. Everyone got back in the car, exactly where they were sitting last time. But when Python turned the ignition key, nothing happened. The gears spun, but the engine wouldn't start.

"What's wrong?" asked Heartthrob.

The dashboard told the sad story.

"We're out of gas," Python said with melancholy.

Liquegirl, Heartthrob, and Blind Tracy all groaned. Rocket, on the other hand, seemed to take it in stride.

"All right, everyone get your TAG gloves on," he said in a take-charge kind of way, "we're going after her on foot." Before anyone could object, he was dragging everyone behind him at lightning fast speed.

"Oy! Again with the running!" Blind Tracy blurted out.

Needless to say, Alpha Force caught up with Harriet, somewhere on 20th Street. When he was within ten yards of her, Rocket broke off from the rest of the group and tackled the elderly witch.

"Ow!" she screamed. "I'm hurt! Police brutality!" Then she got a good look at her assailant. "Oh, it's you. What's the point? You guys mercilessly pick on my defenseless baby boy, why should I expect you to respect your elders?"

"Excuse me?" Python said. "Your son is a lot of things, but a 'defenseless baby boy' is not one of them!"

"Oh, by the way, we know it was you!" said Liquegirl.

"You know it was me who did what?"

"Who orchestrated our assignment in Europe, so that you could obtain our DNA to make a batch of evil clones to destroy our reputation!"

"And do you know how we know this?" asked Heartthrob.

"Your 'defenseless baby boy', as you call him," said Rocket, "told us everything!"

"That's a lie!" Harriet shrieked. "Loren's a good boy, he would never betray me to his mortal enemies!"

"News flash!" said Blind Tracy. "Loren's our friend now! And he says he wants you dead, so that he can move out!"

"Silence, insolent twit!" bellowed the Witch Queen. "You five don't deserve to be superheroes, you deserve to die!"

"Bring it on, witch!" said Python, removing the glove from her suit.

Ceremoniously, she threw the gauntlet down, and the fight was on.

(A/N: Okay, stopping here for now. I need time to map out this next battle. It needs to be high-octane, hard-hitting, action-packed, thrill-a-minute, etc. And stick around when the fight is over, because you'll never see the surprise plot twist coming, I promise! Until then, please, oh please please PLEASE review!)


	36. Final Showdown, Part 2

Dateline: Thursday, July 9, 1981, 1:33 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

When Harriet Kriznek saw Python challenge her with the toss of her glove, she smirked. Surely these savage supers knew the awesome power she possessed, right? How could they possibly think they would defeat her? Maybe they just need to have their memories jogged! While they prepared to strike, she stuck her hand out and cast a quick spell, in an effort to subdue them. It landed on Blind Tracy, but as I'm sure you know by now, it had no effect.

"Um, ow?"

Harriet wound up and prepared to strike again, but Blind Tracy grabbed her arm mentally and twisted it behind her back. While this was happening, Python picked up her glove, turned invisible, and waited for her moment to attack.

Thinking quickly, the Witch Queen spun around to release herself from the blind psi's finger-less grip. She fired some form of lightning from her fingers. That's when Heartthrob stepped in, intercepting the magic, and countering the attack with his own lightning. His target fell over backward.

_What's going on?_ The Witch Queen wondered. _How come my magic isn't working?_ She got up and…was immediately knocked down again. She looked up and saw Rocket staring at her.

"You can't touch me, coz I'm too fast!"

Harriet summoned her strongest magic and fired right in his face. Or rather, where his face was before he moved. The Witch Queen got up one more time.

"My turn," said Liquegirl. "Here I am, come and get me!"

Harriet fired spell after spell at her opponent, all of which had no effect.

At this point, the Witch Queen started to hyperventilate. "This should work, why isn't it working?" She crouched in a fetal position of sorts. "My magic is supposed to fade yet! I'm not even 60!"

"I wouldn't worry about your magic fading," Liquegirl said without thinking.

"Kim, shut up!" Rocket whispered, "We're two sentences away from driving her bananas!"

Kim didn't listen to him. "Me and mine are coated in a special anti-magic formula, making your attacks useless!"

Hearing this, Harriet straightened up. "Oh, so it's not me! I'm not losing my touch! Great!"

Heartthrob gave the squishy super a little smack on the shoulder. "Way to go, genius!"

"What? What did I say?"

"Now that I know my magic won't work on you, I can save my energies for more productive methods!"

"Oops," Liquegirl muttered. She just now realized her mistake. "No matter, you still can't take us! We're superheroes, the finest physical specimens on the planet! What are you? An old woman!"

The Witch Queen narrowed her eyes. She ran up the nearest tree trunk, flipped in the air, landed on her feet, and snapped a branch off the same tree with a chop of her hand.

"An old woman with a black belt," she corrected.

"Oh, s---!" Heartthrob blurted out. "Didn't see that coming!"

"You don't scare me!" Liquegirl said. "Bring it on, witchhole!"

Harriet charged at the "smart" member of the team. She punched, kicked, shoved, poked, and chopped at her from almost every angle. Liquegirl dodged almost every thrust, and the ones that connected didn't do any damage to her liquid body.

"Is that all you can do?" asked the Witch Queen.

"Well, that is my only power, but that's not all I can do!" With that, Liquegirl punched her opponent square in the jaw.

Harriet staggered backward, with the sour taste of blood in her mouth. The squishy super's solid sock had knocked out a good one sixteenth of her favorite jaw. (For those of you too lazy to do the math, that's two teeth.) She spit the lose incisors out into her hand and examined them. Then she stuck them back into their spaces. Using magic, she healed herself.

"Okay, Kimmy, don't exhaust yourself!" Blind Tracy interjected. "I think I can take care of her!" So Liquegirl stepped back and our sightless friend stepped forward. Blind Tracy didn't waste one second; as soon as she stepped forward, she grabbed the witch's arms with her mind. Harriet fought against the invisible force that gripped her so tightly. Then she had an idea.

She spread her hands out in front of her, and magically constructed a metal wall. She made it from an alloy of platinum and titanium, the only substance she could think of that would block psionic abilities, specifically, Blind Tracy's.

"There," the Witch Queen sighed, "that should protect me."

Just then, she noticed that the wall was being ripped like a sheet of paper by two large, dark-skinned hands.

"Oh, crap," she muttered when she saw Heartthrob's face poking through the tear in the wall.

Holding one half of the metal sheet with one hand, the Latin super swung it like a flyswatter. The Witch Queen teleported out of the way before it could strike her. When she reappeared, he lifted his weapon to the sky. But, as luck would have it, Heartthrob's pulse dropped to 99 just at that moment. Thankfully, he ditched the large metal slab the instant it felt too heavy. Legend has it that there was a small earthquake in Japan when he did.

This was the moment Python decided was hers to strike. Still invisible, she leapt into the air and kicked old Hattie right in the old breadbasket. She fell over backwards and doubled herself over. Python was so happy at her success; she unconsciously became visible again.

Big mistake! Now that the Witch Queen could see her, she started chucking rocks at her. She picked up and threw every stone she could see, and when she couldn't find anymore, she summoned them with magic. Python defended herself with her force field, but with the massive volume of rocks that struck it, she began to lose energy fairly quickly. Not wanting to collapse, she dropped the shield before she lost any more energy from impact. Now that Python was vulnerable again, Harriet threw her last rock with all her might.

Just seconds before the rock was due to hit Python and maybe kill her, a blur of blue fabric sped by and carried her away from the trajectory of the stone.

"C'mon, Dash," Python complained, "I could have handled that myself!"

"Hey, I said it before, and I'll say it again, nobody beats up my big sister but me!"

"Oh, this is pointless!" screeched the Witch Queen.

She knelt down and placed her hands on the earth. She chanted some form of Latin or something. Suddenly, the whole ground glowed with that queer blue light. The ground started to sprout strange vines that grew faster than weeds. Like the tentacles of some kraken beast, the vines went after the heroes.

Blind Tracy was easily grabbed and subdued. She might have seen it coming, if the vines had brains, which they didn't. Of the four others, only Python went to save her. But when she started to wrestle with the vines that confined the red-haired psychic, another group of plants snatched her too.

Just as this was happening, Heartthrob's pulse went back up to 103. Knowing his powers were active once again, he tried to deceive the Witch Queen by duplicating himself tenfold, the maximum amount he could muster. Harriet wasn't deterred by this little stunt. She merely grabbed all ten copies of him and bound them all. Unable to move, his pulse invariably dropped below 100, causing the other instances of him to vanish.

_Three down, two to go,_ thought the Witch Queen.

Rocket was a little more difficult to catch than the others were, and I don't think I need to tell you why. His lightning-quick reflexes kept him from getting snagged several times. Harriet figured the only way to catch him was to be one step ahead of him. So every time she attacked with one vine, she would set up another in the spot where she thought Rocket would go. After missing five or six times, she finally got lucky and grabbed his ankle. Once he was caught, they all discovered that he wasn't strong enough to break free. A few more vines later, and he was trapped.

The Witch Queen stared at Liquegirl. She was the only one left. Liquegirl smiled coyly.

"You don't honestly think you can contain me with these overgrown houseplants, do you?" she taunted. "You know what I'm capable of!" She demonstrated her powers for emphasis.

Harriet said nothing. She merely swung at her with vine after vine after vine. Liquegirl squished her way out of each and every attack.

"I can do this all night, little one," the Witch Queen pointed out, "you're going to tire out eventually."

Liquegirl realized she was right. It took a lot out of her to keep up a state of low viscosity. But she wasn't the kind to give up without a fight. She braved the assault until she had no choice but to return to her solid form. Exhausted, she collapsed like a rag doll. She was still awake, though she didn't let on, thinking that Harriet would assume she was dead and leave it at that.

"Hmm," the Witch Queen grunted in satisfaction. "I didn't plan to kill her, but a win is a win. And now, since you thugs so heartlessly destroyed my creations, I will head back home to make a new batch of MagiClones (patent pending), so that I may continue my master plan! See ya!" She summoned a broomstick and flew away.

"Man, how cliché is that?" Heartthrob asked.

Python sighed. "This is all my fault, you guys. I'm sorry I got you all into this mess."

"How is this your fault, Vi?" asked Blind Tracy.

"As the team's leader, everything that happens to us is ultimately my responsibility. That's how this is my fault."

"Yeah, that's nice," said Rocket. "You know, I always knew it would end this way. Here we are, tried up like prisoners, and the only person who could possibly save us is out cold."

"Out cold?" asked Liquegirl. "You wouldn't happen to be talking about me, would you, dear?"

"Oh, praise God!" Rocket shouted, "you're alive!"

"Yeah."

"This is perfect!" Python said. "You still have that TAG glove on! You can get us out of here! Then we can stop the Witch Queen in her tracks!"

"Yes, Vi, I was just thinking that. But there's still one problem."

"What's that, Kim?"

"I don't think I can get up."

"Here, let me help you," said Blind Tracy. Using telekinesis, she lifted Liquegirl onto her feet. "Okay, I'm going to let go now, can you stand?"

"I think so," she answered. Blind Tracy released her, and…she collapsed again.

"This is going to take a while," Rocket mumbled.

(A/N: Hello again. I'm sorry if I seem a little distracted, I've been a little under the weather lately. I'll be going on vacation soon, so it's going to be some time before I can even start on Part 3 of the Final Showdown. Until I see you again, please review!)


	37. Final Showdown, Part 3

Dateline: Thursday, July 9, 1981, 2:05 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

When last we left our favorite team of five supers, plants under the command of Harriet Kriznek, the Witch Queen, had four of them tied up. Only Liquegirl could save them, but she had fallen and couldn't get up. It was thirty minutes or so later that the squishy super was finally able to stand on her own two feet. Then, with the help of her TAG glove, she could transfer her powers to her teammates, so that they could slip right out.

"All right, now, let's get that witch!" Python said.

"Wait!" Liquegirl protested. "I've been thinking about this, and I don't think we have to kill her after all!"

"What do you mean?"

"If we can neutralize her magic, all her active spells will be broken, including the one on Loren. So, what we need is peanut oil."

"Remember, her magic is the strongest in the world," Heartthrob pointed out.

"So?"

"So, we're going to need a lot more peanut oil." He laughed at his own lame joke.

"Are you sure this plan is going to work, dear?" asked Rocket.

"No, but it's the best I could come up with."

"But, Kim," said Blind Tracy, "what if your plan doesn't work?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. If we get to it, that is."

"All right, José, we'll use your speed and these gloves to get to Atlantic Avenue while Dash gets the peanut oil." Python handed Rocket a fistful of bucks. "Oh, and Dash, don't get the biggest size there is, like you did last time, okay?"

"What? I only got the one-liter bottle!"

"Of cough syrup?"

Everybody laughed.

Rocket sped away. Heartthrob grabbed Python's hand with his glove, TAGing her. Python then TAGed Liquegirl, who TAGed Blind Tracy. The four of them took off running. Within three minutes, they were at the doorstep of 5772 Atlantic Avenue. Loren was just outside.

"Oh, so you guys decided to help me after all? Thank you!"

"Yeah," Liquegirl interrupted, "thank us later, when we win. Now Loren, I need to know something, will peanut oil neutralize your mother's magic?"

"Yes, yes it would! Why didn't I think of that? That's genius!"

"Yeah, thanks, is she inside?"

Loren nodded. The team rushed inside to face Harriet Kriznek for (hopefully) the last time. They found her frantically searching the kitchen cabinets.

"Where's the damn nutmeg?" she screeched. "I need that nutmeg to produce a new batch of MagiClones…"

"(patent pending)!" Python finished.

The Witch Queen whirled around at the sound of her voice. "Hmm. Thirty-five minutes to escape. With your reputations, I was expecting something a little more impressive. No matter, I learned my lesson: never assume that a superhero is dead. Now, where's Rocket? Is he dead?"

"My brother's location is none of your concern, madam!"

Just then, Rocket showed up.

"Hey guys, I couldn't find the peanut oil, so I got corn oil instead, will that do?"

Python rolled her eyes. "No, that won't do! Now take this back and get peanut oil!"

"But the store you sent me to doesn't carry peanut oil!"

"Which store is it, the Winn-Dixie on Ventnor?" asked Harriet.

"No, it's the Piggly-Wiggly on 16th Street," Rocket answered.

"Oh, they have peanut oil, but you won't find it with the oil, it's on aisle 9 with the peanut products."

"Okay, thanks." Rocket sped away again.

"Wait," the Witch Queen said, "what the hell just happened here?"

It was all Python could do to keep from laughing out loud. Everyone else, on the other hand, was laughing himself or herself silly. Soon, she couldn't resist it any longer and started laughing too.

"Stop laughing at me!" Harriet screamed. But the supers didn't stop laughing. "It's not funny!" she insisted.

"Actually," Heartthrob said between laughs, "it is!"

"Oh, that does it!" the Witch Queen bellowed. "It's high time I took you guys down a peg!" She stuck her hands out and began to hum. Her entire body emitted that same old blue magical glow. Only then did the team stop laughing. Well, actually, Blind Tracy didn't stop laughing right away, she only stopped when she realized that nobody else was laughing.

"What is she doing?" she asked.

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure we're not going to like it!" said Python.

Harriet fired a large orb of magical energy directly at Heartthrob, the closest super to her. There was a small explosion, like the kind that comes from matter and anti-matter annihilation. He fell over backward, hitting his head against a table, hard.

"What in the world? I thought we were immune to her magic!"

"You girls are, for now!" the witch explained. "But your Latino friend has just had his anti-magic shield fried! I bet you didn't know that magic is also _anti-_anti-magic!"

"Anti-anti-magic?" Liquegirl asked sarcastically. "Make that name up yourself, did you?"

"You shut your mouth!" Harriet released another orb of blue light from her hand, which turned the now vulnerable Heartthrob into a rock. As you can imagine, the others were a little disheartened by this little debacle.

"Okay," Python said with a small crack in her voice, "anybody got any bright ideas?"

"Yeah," said Liquegirl, "hide!" She ducked behind her respected leader, who turned herself invisible, thus revealing the one hiding behind her. "Violet!" she yelled before running off to find a new hiding place. Blind Tracy was left standing alone in the den.

"Um, guys? Come on; don't leave me here all by myself! Oh, Lord, it's that field trip to the zoo all over again!" She wasn't really bugging out; she was just lulling the Witch Queen into a false sense of security. Okay, so maybe she was a little creeped out, but wouldn't you be? Anyway, Blind Tracy could sense Harriet coming up behind her, preparing to cast her spell. Mentally, she grabbed the witch's hand and pointed it right back into her own face.

"Go ahead," she challenged, "cast a spell. See what happens!"

"Did you forget that I have another hand?"

"Yeah, I did, actually, but thanks for reminding me!"

"D'oh!" The Witch Queen was ashamed of her big mistake. Now she had both her arms trapped by the finger-less grip of Blind Tracy's telekinesis. She tried to shake herself free; because she thought it would work like before.

"Oh, no, you don't!" the sightless super shouted. She doubled up her grip, and lifted the witch off the ground. She bound her legs too, so that she couldn't move at all.

"Put me down!" Harriet demanded.

"Okey-dokey!" Blind Tracy answered in her best innocent voice. She oriented the witch so that she was parallel to the floor and facing downward.

"No, wait!" she protested, but it was too late. Blind Tracy had already released her to the will of gravity.

_THUD_

"I hate comedy fights," she muttered.

From behind the couch, Liquegirl saw the whole thing. "Hey, boss, I think our red-haired friend has the witch under control," she said into her radio.

"Good."

"All right, I'm pretty sure that she won't willingly ingest the peanut oil, so we're going to have to open up a wound on her body. Got your sword?"

"No, I left it at home, like an idiot!"

"Okay, this is not a problem," Liquegirl assured Python. "We'll have to improvise. Can you make it to the kitchen drawers?"

"No problem! Python out."

Still invisible, Python quietly crept into the kitchen. She started to search the drawers for a knife.

But Harriet had sharp eyes. When she noticed the kitchen drawers opening and closing seemingly by themselves, she began to suspect something was up. She shook herself more violently than ever before, hoping that the blind psychic wouldn't be able to keep up. Once she got a hand free, she zapped her opponent's anti-magic shield. The force exerted on Blind Tracy caused her to drop Harriet. Once free, the witch wasted no time in turning poor Ashley Cohen into a paperweight.

_Uh, oh,_ Python thought. She had seen this in her peripheral vision.

"All right, Python," wheezed the elderly woman, "I know you're there! Now why don't you show yourself already?"

Per her wishes, Python became visible. She spun around and held a butcher knife aloft.

"Hey, be careful with that! Wouldn't want anybody to get hurt, now, would we?"

"Be careful with what?" Python asked. "Oh, did you mean this?" She waved the knife around. The Witch Queen followed the tip of the blade with very nervous eyes.

Python lunged at her, and she stepped back. She managed to back Harriet up against the wall. She lifted the blade and prepared to strike, but the Witch Queen countered with her magic. Python knew this would destroy her anti-magic barrier, so she quickly dropped the blade, hoping against all hope that it would cut her opponent. The miraculous thing was that it did! Harriet screeched, then seethed as she examined the spot where the blade had struck her. Purple witch's blood came forth from the open wound.

_Excellent,_ Liquegirl thought, still in hiding, _all we need now is for Dash to get back with that peanut oil._

Python scrambled to her feet. She knew that the Witch Queen's next move would be to turn her into some inanimate object, like she did Heartthrob and Blind Tracy. Not wanting that to happen, she turned invisible again and waited quietly.

"Come out, come out, wherever you aren't!" Harriet coaxed. Python delivered a few punches to the enemy, escaping retaliation just in time, so that she couldn't pinpoint her location.

While Python kept the Witch Queen busy, Liquegirl sloshed her way to the front door and squeezed her head through the keyhole to see if her husband had returned yet. She saw him on the front lawn talking with Loren.

"Dash! What are you doing? We need that peanut oil!"

"Sorry, hon, but Loren here was doing something, I asked…"

"I don't want to hear it, just get in here, now!" Just then, she felt a sharp pain in her side and a strong force pushing her to the right. She made her discomfort quite apparent as she unwillingly pulled her head out of the door. She hit the wall with a loud _splat!_

As Liquegirl later found out, the cause of pain and the push was Harriet, annihilating her anti-magic shield. Once her shield was down, the witch froze her in a block of solid ice.

"Why don't you just chill out here for a minute?" she joked.

At that moment, Rocket burst in, peanut oil of death in hand. "All right, you! Your moment of truth has come!"

"I highly doubt that it would be wise of you to make threats, Mr. Rocket. Look around at your defeated teammates!" She pointed out that Kim was a Popsicle, Ashley was a paperweight, and José was a rock.

"So?" said Rocket.

"So? So, all I have to do is find your sister, and Alpha Force is as good as history!"

At this point, Rocket had an idea. "Yeah, I guess your right, especially since my sister is such a lousy superhero."

"What?" Python shouted, turning visible.

Rocket winked his eye, telling his sister that the time had come for "The Move".

"I said, you are a sucky superhero!"

"You're one to talk! Your only power is running away from the enemy!"

"Or, am I running toward them? You forgot that, didn't you, short stuff?"

"You know how much I hate it when you call me that!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, short stuff; did I offend your short stuff, short stuff?"

"At least I didn't have to wear diapers until I was six!"

Rocket gasped. This wasn't part of "The Move," but he tap-danced around it.

"I thought we agreed not to speak of that ever again!" he said.

"We did, but I had my fingers crossed!" answered Python.

"See! You proved my point! You blow at hero work, because you have no moral fiber!"

"**_I_** have no moral fiber? This, from the kid who went trick-or-treating without a costume…at age seventeen!"

"Yeah, well, at least I don't smoke!" Rocket spat.

"Neither do I!"

"Really?" Rocket reached into Python's super suit, despite her pleas to "get your hands off me!" He pulled out a crumbled cardboard box about the size of a deck of cards. "What are these?" he asked knowingly.

"They're not mine!" Python insisted. "I'm holding them for a friend!"

"Which friend?"

"Umm…Smitty?"

"LIAR!"  
"How do you know?"

"You told me he only likes Lucky Strike, and these are Marlboro's!"

Python winked, suggesting that they complete "The Move." Rocket winked back in agreement.

"All right, they are mine, but what does it matter?" Python shouted. "We have a job to do right now, and arguing won't get it done!"

"Fine, but let the record show that I proved my point!" Rocket answered, shoving his sister for emphasis.

"Fine!" Python said, slapping him.

"Fine!" Rocket said, slapping her back.

"Fine!" they said at the same time. Then, also simultaneously, they punched old Harriet Kriznek right in the jaw. The witch went down like a felled tree. She never saw it coming.

"Quick, the oil!" Python shouted. Rocket splashed the peanut oil he was still holding onto the Witch Queen. Some of it fell onto her open wound.

"AAAAAAH!" She stood up straight and grabbed her arm, where her cut was. "It burns, it burns!" She looked and the wound once more and gasped in horror as her blood rapidly changed from purple to red. "No! Nooooooo!"

While this was happening, Blind Tracy, Heartthrob, and Liquegirl all returned to their normal forms. The house rapidly fell into a sorry state of disrepair. Most of the furniture vanished. And to top it off, Harriet's clothes became rags.

"You cursed brats!" she spat, "look what you've done! I'm ruined!"  
"No, you're normal," Python pointed out, "just like your son. Oh, that reminds me!" She poked her head out of what was left of the front door. "Loren, it's done! The curse on you has been lifted, you can move out now!"

"What?" the (former) Witch Queen asked. She went out onto the front lawn to talk with her son. "You did this? You asked them to disenchant me, so you could move out?"

"No, I asked them to kill you, but this works too!"

"But why?"

"Because I don't want to be a 35 year old man who still lives with his mother!"

"Oh, well that's reasonable. Why didn't you say so seventeen years ago, I would have let you go!"

"Huh? But what about the hex, and the bursting into flames thing?"

"There was never a hex! I never placed one! I just said all that stuff because I was upset, I didn't use magic! You could have moved away at any time!"

Everybody groaned.

"Loren! You put us through all that grief for nothing!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't know! I was so sure!"

"Come on," Heartthrob said, "let's get out of here." The rest of the team agreed.

Using Rocket's speed and the TAG gloves, they rushed back to the intersection where they left the Alphamobile…only to discover that it wasn't there.

"Please don't tell me that our car got towed again!" Python said.

"Our car got towed again," said Liquegirl.

"I told you not to tell me that!"

"First, we get shipped to Europe on a fraudulent mission, then we have to fight our own clones, then we kick a witch to the curb for no reason at all, and now this!" Rocket fumed. "This week's gone all to hell!"

"Hey, it wasn't all bad!" said Liquegirl, "what about our wedding?"

"Oh, whoopee, one bright spot in a week of udder misery…" Rocket saw that he had hurt his wife's feelings. "…Uh, I mean, umm, I love you?"

"Nice save, brother," Heartthrob commented. "So, how are we supposed to get home now?"

Just as soon as he did, who should happen by but Kari McKean?

"Hey, Violet!" she said. "What have you been up to? I haven't seen you in three months!"

"Funny you should ask…"

(A/N: How was that for a twist ending? It was such a surprise, I didn't even see it coming! I probably shouldn't have said that that was an ending, because I'm not done yet. I've still got three more chapters left, and they're not going to be boring filler. At least, I hope they won't be. Until next time, review!)


	38. ABC, Another Boring Chapter

Dateline: Thursday, July 9, 1981, 3:22 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

"Thank you so much for getting my car out of the impound lot, Kari," Violet was saying, "I cant tell you how much this means to me!"

"Yeah, well, I can tell you what it means to me!" she answered, "Eleven hundred bucks down the crapper!"

"Eleven hundred bucks?" Violet asked the guy running the joint in mock surprise. "Have you no soul, sir? No compassion? You are a monster!" She noticed one of those novelty air fresheners near the man's desk and grabbed it. "This is retribution for your crimes against humanity!" She sniffed it and exhaled loudly as if to rub it in his face.

"Okay, so where's the car I was so nice to give you, Violet?"

"Over there," she answered pointing. When Kari got a good look at the Alphamobile, she flipped her lid.

"It doesn't even look like the same car anymore!"

"Yeah, I know."

"Did you do all that yourself?"

"Nah, my techie did this. Hooked up all sorts of weapons and stuff, you know."

The two women got inside the car, and Violet offered to drive Kari home. She accepted.

"Man, you supers don't compromise on your automobiles, do you?"

"Yeah, that reminds me…"

"Look, Vi, as long as I don't have to spend any more of my money, I'll do anything you need me to."

"No, Kari, that's not it…"

"I mean, it's kind of rude to ask someone to do you a favor and then expect them to pay for it, don't you think?"

"Kari…"

"Not that I think you would do something rude like that on purpose, after all, as a super hero, you're required to have a higher moral standard than most people do."

"Kari…"

"Wow, that must suck, I mean, you being required to stay out of trouble while us normal folks can go around doing pretty much whatever we want."

"Kari…"

"Not that we really get to…"

"KARI!" Violet had learned a long time ago that this was the only sure way to get Miss McKean to shut up.

"What?" Kari spat, annoyed that she was so _very rudely_ interrupted.

"I've been meaning to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"How did you find out I was a superhero? I never told you personally, so what gave it away?"

"I kinda figured it out when I had to baby-sit Jack-Jack that one time when we were kids. I mean, no normal family has a baby that can spontaneously combust and shoot lasers from his eyes and stuff, right?"

"Wait, you remember all that? I thought the NSA erased your memory of the event?"

"They did, sort of. I think that un-remembering machine of theirs has a few bugs in it. They left enough memory in there for me to piece it back together, even if it did take me a year and a half."

"Uh-huh," Violet said, not fully believing her.

"So, how have you been?"

Violet summarized everything that happened to her that week, from Dash's wedding to defeating Harriet Kriznek. "How about you?" she concluded.

"I got fired," Kari said flatly.

"You win."

"Gee, thanks. You know, I'm starting to think that answering phones just wasn't my thing."

"Really?"

"Yeah, well, on the bright side, I've met someone."

This piqued Violet's interest. "Really? Who?"

"You remember Tony, from high school?"

"Tony Rydinger, my ex? You're with him now?"

"Yeah. Is that going to be a problem?"

"Well…eh…no, I guess not. Hey, I'm over him! How about that?"

"So why did you break up with him in the first place?"

"Huh? Oh, he was cheating on me."

"For real? Or are you just saying that to make me break up with him?"

"No, for real!"

"Wow. Sucks for you."

"I know. Well, here we are." Violet pulled the car over in front of the building Kari lived in. "I hope you find work soon, Kari."

"And I hope you can find somebody to love, Vi. I'll see you when I see you!" Kari went inside and Violet drove back home.

When she got there, she found Ashley, Kim, and José waiting for her with arms crossed.

"What?"

"Remember back at Harriet's place, where I was turned into a rock?" asked José.

"Yeah?"

"And then you beat her with the argument move that you and Dash have been practicing?"

"Where are you going with this?"

"Even though the three of us were turned into inanimate objects, we all heard the whole argument."

"So? What does that have to…oh!" Violet feigned an innocent smile. She now knew that they knew about the cigarettes in her super suit.

"Vi, how could you?" said Ashley.

"I'm sorry. I used to be addicted to nicotine. I hate myself for ever lighting up that first time."

"Violet, I just need to know one thing," said Kim.

"What?"

"Just tell me that you don't smoke anymore."

"I've been clean for about a year now. Super's honor."

"Thank you," Kim said, a tear in her voice. She and Ashley left, but José stayed behind. He had more questions.

"Honey, if you're not smoking anymore, why do you still have those smokes in your suit?"

Violet took them out and examined them. "I'm worried that I might relapse, and if I did, I'm not sure what I might do to get a cigarette."

"Vi, just having these increases your chances of relapsing. If you really want to quit, you have to get rid of them."

She sighed heavily. "You're right." She handed the pack to José. "You have to do it. I'm not strong enough."

"Fine."

The next two hours were mostly uneventful. Then, in the middle of the evening news, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," said Kim.

She opened the door, and there was a man in a suit standing there, whom no one recognized.

"Hello, I'm Bob Freeman, I work for California Child Services. Is this the residence of Ashley Cohen?"

Ashley got up and tapped her way to the door. "Does someone need me?"

"Ashley, with the death of your parents, you've become a ward of the state. I need you to come with me."

"Where?"

"To the orphanage."

"What?" said the other members of Alpha Force.

"You can't do that! She lives here, with us!" insisted Kim.

"Ma'am, you look like you have a very stable household, and if I could leave her here with you, I would. As it is, my hands are tied. I'm very sorry. Come on, Ashley."

"No!" she protested. "I want to stay here, with my friends!"

"I understand your anger, Ashley, but the law says that I can't leave you in the care of anyone other than your parents."

"Go on, Ashley," said Violet. "We'll figure something out."

Ashley got in the car. Then she called out to Violet, "Don't leave me!" The social worker drove away.

"What do we do now?" asked Dash.

"Do you even have to ask? Ashley's an integral part of this team, and she's our friend. What we do now is: we get her back!"

(A/N: Well? How's this for an ending? Forgive me if I get a wee bit sappy with the emotional stuff. This was how I planned the ending for a long time. Only two chapters left! Review, please!)


	39. Getting Ashley Back

Dateline: Thursday, July 9, 1981, 5:30 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

"Vi," José said, "I think you're being a little unreasonable."

"What?" she asked loudly.

"I…I mean, I think it's noble of you to want to get Ashley, but do you even know where to begin?"

"Of course! She was taken to the orphanage, right? We start there."

"With all due respect, boss, do you even know where that is?"

Violet said nothing; she just stood there with her mouth open.

"We could look it up in the phone book!" Kim chimed in.

"I was going to say that! I was!" Violet insisted.

"Whatever, let's go!"

The four of them rushed back into the house. Dash, Kim, and José huddled around while Violet flipped through the Yellow Pages. They decided that with all eyes on the page, they wouldn't miss anything.

"It's not here! There's no listing of any orphanages in here!"

"Okay, then we'll just have to use Plan B!" said Dash.

"And what is Plan B?" asked Kim.

"We use the tracer in her watch to pinpoint her location!"

"Wow, that's a good plan. Why didn't we think of that earlier?"

Quickly, Dash got on the phone and called Sheriff Baker. "Sir, we need to know where Blind Tracy is. Could you track down her location for us?"

"No problem." After that there was a long pause, followed by the sound of electric sparks. "Oh, dear," Dash heard the sheriff say. "Um, our mainframe computer here at the station is on the fritz, so I'm not going to be able to help you. Sorry." He hung up.

"Well?" Violet asked with bated breath.

Dash recounted the bad news.

"Perfect!" José spat. "Now what?"

"Okay, don't panic!" Violet said. "Now, we all know by now that not one of us knows where the orphanage is. But, do any of you know anyone who might know where it is?"

"Not me," said Dash.

"Or me," said José.

"Wait, I just remembered!" Kim blurted out. "My mother used to help out at the orphanage all the time when I was a girl!"

"Yeah, that's great, honey, but does she know where the orphanage is?"

"No, Dash, she drove there blindfolded, so as not to ruin the surprise! Of course she knows where it is!"

"Kim! We don't have time for jokes now! Hurry up and call her!" Kim did as she was told.

"Hello, Mom? It's Kimmy…Yes; it's great to hear from you too, Mom. Listen, I need something…No, Mom, I've got plenty to eat…No, Mom, I…Will you listen to me? Okay, I need to know where the orphanage is…Because a friend of mine is being held in custody there, that's why." Kim grabbed a pen and some paper and wrote down the directions. "Okay, thanks Mom, that's all I needed…Okay, I'm hanging up now!" She yanked the receiver away from her ear. The whole neighborhood could hear the scream on the other end of the line. Humiliating!

Kim slammed the phone down. "That's my mother for you."

"Did you get the directions?"

"Yeah, but we kind of have to swing by my parent's place first."

"What do you mean?"

"The directions she gave me begin there."

"So we have to go a mile and a half out of our way because your mother can't read a map?" Dash asked.

"Yeah, sorry."

"Doesn't matter," Violet insisted, "let's go!" She grabbed the keys to the car and bolted out the front door. The rest of them followed.

Just as Violet was stepping into the driver's seat, Kim put a hand on her shoulder. "Whoa, there, leadfoot, let's hand the keys over to a more careful driver, shall we?" Groaning, Violet surrendered the keys. Kim got behind the wheel, started the car, and they were off. After travelling south on New York Avenue and east on 22nd Street, they arrived at the Lavender house.

"Okay, so first we have to go west on 22nd, and then turn right onto…New York Avenue? That's the way we just came!"

"Kim! Why didn't you see that earlier?" asked Dash.

"I'm sorry!"

"What did you say your IQ was again?"

"Hey, that's not fair!"

"What do you mean 'that's not fair?'"

"This is not a reflection of my intelligence! What this is, is one mistake!"

"Still, you couldn't have been that smart to make it in the first place!"

"Look who's talking, Mr. Lincoln-was-shot-by-a-toll-booth-operator!"

"ENOUGH!" Violet bellowed. They were all surprised. Nobody knew she could yell that loud. Not even Violet. "Okay," she said in a calmer voice, "this pointless argument is not helping us find Ashley, so let's just put it behind us, and continue."

Kim nodded and drove the car. They arrived at the orphanage fifteen minutes later.

"May I help you?" asked the woman behind the counter.

"We're here to see Ashley Cohen," said Violet.

"Please sign the ledger," said the woman, "and you can find all the children in the dinning hall."

"Dinner at this hour?" asked José. "What kind of orphanage is this? These are kids, not old people!" Kim lightly admonished him for that remark. "Ow! Why do you have to hit so hard?"

Violet and the others filed into a smallish room. In it, there were children sitting at tables that only came up to Violet's knee. (Considering her short stature, that's really saying something!) Although the furniture looked uncomfortably small to the four of them, the orphans seemed to be quite content with the arrangement. All except for one, that is, a red-haired girl with sunglasses and a white cane.

It was Dash who spotted her first. "Ashley!"

She straightened up, as if she had gotten a surge of electricity up her spine. "Dash?" Using her powers, she sensed that José, Kim, and Violet were with him. Ashley stood up and ran to them. "Guys, you came! I knew you wouldn't forget me!"

"That's right! Now, gather your stuff, we're getting you out of here!"

"I don't have any stuff! All my stuff's back at the house!"

"Okay, cool! Let's go!"

So they walked to the front door, expecting to leave the place and go home. But they didn't get far.

"Stop right there!" said the woman behind the desk. "Where to you think you're going, huh, red?"

"I'm going home with them," Ashley said.

"And they would be…?"

"My friends?"

"I'm sorry, but that just won't cut the mustard."

"What?" asked all five of them.

"The law states that nobody can take this girl from our custody except for her parents.  
"But my parents are dead," said Ashley. "Does that mean I'm stuck in this hellhole, forever?"

"Watch your language, missy. And no, that's not what it means. If somebody (maybe one of these idiots) wants to adopt you, they fill out the paperwork, then they become your parent, and then they can get you out of here."

"So, that's it? Someone has to adopt me?" It sounded too good to be true, and Ashley wanted it confirmed.

"Isn't that what I just said? Yes, that's it."

"Oh, that's wonderful! Vi, did you hear that?"  
"Yeah, I was here the whole time, Ash," she answered.

"Now you can finally adopt me, like you always said you would, right?"

"I don't know…"  
"What's not to know?"

Violet said nothing. The rest of the team looked on her with contempt. The truth was, when Violet said she would adopt Ashley in the past, she was only half-sincere. Sure, she loved her very much, almost as if she were her daughter. But actually becoming a parent was a frightening proposition for Violet. It meant that she would have to be responsible for the well being of a human being that was not herself. Violet wasn't sure she could handle the extra responsibility.

Of course, Violet didn't need to say anything. Ashley read her mind and learned all of this.

"Oh, I see. You don't really care about me enough to adopt me. You were just joking all those times you said you were going to adopt me."

"No, Ashley, that's not…"

"No, no, I have all I need to know. Now, if you'll excuse me, my gruel is getting cold. I'll see you when I get out." She stormed off.

"No, you've got it all wrong! Ashley, wait! Ashley!" But she was gone.

The four of them drove home in silence. The talking only began once they were back inside.

"What happened to you, Violet?" asked Kim.

"I'm sorry?"

"A minute ago, you were willing to kick down the door, guns blazing, and snatch Ashley from the clutches of those G-men. Then you find a way to get her out of there legally, and you're too timid to do it? What the hell?"

"Kim, forgive me if I seem a bit hesitant, but I'm just not sure I'm ready for the respons…"

"This isn't about you, Vi!" Dash interrupted. "This is about Ashley. She expects somebody to adopt her and get her out of there. And from your existing relationship with her, I'd guess she expects that somebody to be you!"

"I know, I know, but still, if I adopt her…"

"If you adopt her, what?" said José. "Name one thing extra you'd have to do if you were her mom that you don't do already! Just one!"

"Will you guys quit jumping down my throat already?" Violet said. "Look, I know you guys want me to adopt her, but this isn't the kind of decision you rush into, okay? Besides, I don't know if it's what God wants or not."

"You really think God wants Ashley to stay there?" Kim said.

"I don't know what God wants. Maybe he does want me to take Ashley, and make her my daughter. Or maybe he doesn't. Who can know the mind of the Lord?" There was silence. "Look, I'll pray about it tonight, and I'll give you an answer in the morning."

"Fine, but it better be the right answer," Kim scolded. The three of them left Violet alone to pray.

"Dear God," she prayed silently, "show me what you want me to do. I love Ashley very much, and I really want her back. But I'm not sure I'm ready to raise a child. Not that Ashley's a child, after all, she is almost seventeen. And I suppose that she isn't really that much of a burden anyway." In that moment, a profound thought came to her. "Wow, I'm not even finished with this prayer, and it's been answered already. You really are an Almighty God! Thank you, Lord. Amen."

Violet stepped out of her room. "Guys, get back in the car!"

"Where are we going?"

"I think you already know where we're going!"

(A/N: So? How was it? I know, it's not the most creative of chapters, but I think it fits. Only one chapter remains, so stay tuned! Until then, review!)


	40. A New Home

Dateline: Thursday, July 9, 1981, 5:55 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

Ashley had hit rock bottom. It was bad enough when she lost her parents to Herr Cannon's greedy rampaging. At least then, there had been two very considerate supers to comfort her. But now, she was stuck in a government institution, with only one way out. And the only person who could get her out was too chicken to do it. What made it worse was that Ashley honestly thought that Violet liked her. She now came to the realization that she was alone in the world. She had nobody, not even her old teddy bear, Peanut Butter. She was so depressed, she could imagine seeing herself in this sorry state of affairs. Was this what it meant to be "beside oneself?"

"Why are you wearing sunglasses?"

The little boy's question snapped Ashley out of her funk. "What?"

"I was just wondering, why are you wearing sunglasses? It's kinda dark in here already."

"Is it? I wouldn't know, because I'm blind. That's why I'm wearing sunglasses."

"Oh! What's blind?"

"It means my eyes don't work, and that I can't see."

"Really? How many fingers am I holding up?"

Due to her telepathy, she knew that he was holding up three fingers.

"Two?" she said. The way she figured it, if he had proof she was blind, he'd leave her alone.

"Ashley Cohen?" she heard a voice say.

"Yes?"

"There's someone here for you."

"I'm not in the mood for visitors." She was still sore about what Violet did.

"Let me rephrase that, there's someone here to take you home. You've been adopted."  
_Oh, great. What kind of self-loathing loser wants me anyway?_

Still wallowing in a pool of self-pity, Ashley got up and dragged her feet to the front desk. To her alarm, she sensed the brain waves of someone familiar.

"Violet? Is that you?"

"Yes, Ashley, it's me."

"Are you going to take me home? Adopt me?"

"Uh, huh."

"But a minute ago, you said you weren't going to."

"A minute ago, I was thinking only of myself. I'm sorry I didn't do this sooner. I love you, and I never should have considered leaving you here. Can you ever forgive me?"

She could see that Violet was sincere. "Eh, I probably would have done the same thing if I were you. You're forgiven."

"Excuse me, if I may interrupt, Miss Parr," said the woman, "I still need your signature on these forms." Violet made short work of the paperwork. "Okay, she's all yours."

Ashley embraced Violet tightly. She was surprised, but then returned the sentiment.

"I love you, Ashley."

"I love you too, Mom. I can call you Mom, right?"

"Of course!"

The two of them were walking back to the car when Ashley said something else.

"Um, now that I'm legally your daughter, I want to ask you something."

"What's that?"

"Can I borrow the car on Friday?"

Violet was surprised at first, but when she saw her daughter's coy expression, she knew that she was only joking.

"Well, where were you planning on going?" she asked, to continue the joke.

"Oh, nowhere. My blind friends and I were going to do some street racing on 21st Street."

Violet giggled. "You know, one of my buddies at work got seriously hurt while street racing!"

"Really? What happened?"

"He slammed the door on his big toe."

They both laughed heartily.

"Hey, if you let me borrow the car, I'll give you a cut of my winnings."

"Ha! Oh, you will, will you?"

"Yeah, um, how's five percent sound?"

"Wow! You're only going to keep five percent? That's mighty generous of you!" Ashley roared with laughter. They were both still laughing when they got into the car.

"What's so funny?" asked Kim.

"Oh, nothing, it's just that Ashley wanted to borrow the car on Friday."

"But Ashley can't drive, she's blind, remember?" Kim said with infinite sincerity.

"I know, that's why it's a joke!" Violet said rather loudly.

"Yeah, Aunt Kim! Someone tells a joke, and you don't laugh? There's something wrong with you!"

"Hey, didn't your mother teach you not to talk back to your elders that way?"

"She's only been her mother for two minutes, dear," said Dash.

"That's no excuse!" she answered. "See? I can be funny too!"

"Of course you can, honey!" he said rather condescendingly.

"Guys, will you please stop fighting?" said Ashley. "You're destroying my illusion of a happy home!"

"Too late!" José said laughing.

When they got back home, they all dispersed and began to do their own thing. Violet went into the kitchen to start dinner. José watched.

"You know, when I first met you, Vi, I never would have figured you were the motherly type."  
"I know. If someone had told me five years ago that I would be a twenty-one-year-old mom with a teenage daughter, I would have said they were crazy. Yet, here were are."

"Of course, a young girl like her needs something that a mother just can't give."

Violet turned and gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I didn't mean any disrespect tot you, because I know you'll be an excellent mom for her. It's just that, well, you know, a child needs a, well maybe not so much a, but, well, what I mean is, uh, she could stand to have a father, right?"

Violet couldn't suppress a smile. "That's awfully sweet of you, José. I'd like that. Uh, I mean, she, Ashley, would like that."

"I had a feeling you, uh, I mean, she would."

Meanwhile, Ashley was in her room, thinking about her life. She had gone from a warm family to being orphaned and back again in less than three months. She didn't really realize what a great thing it was to have parents until she lost hers. Now, she was glad to be able to call someone Mom again. She was happy to be home again. Life was very nice.

FIN

(A/N: Whew! This project has completely confiscated my life, dahlings, consumed me as only hero work can! I'm sorry, I couldn't resist! Well, that brings this story to a close. But I'm not done writing just yet! My next big project is one that I've been putting off for a year and a half, and you guys get to help me write it! It's called "The Amazing Race: Dreamland", and I need some teams to compete. Original characters welcome, contact me for more details.)


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